Law College Dehradun organised a symposium on the topic 'Political Backwardness of Other Backward Classes' was organized on 4 October 2023, in collaboration with the Single Member Deducted Commission formed to investigate the backwardness of Other Backward Classes under the local bodies within Uttarakhand. Chairman of the Commission and former judge of Nainital High Court, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Shri B.S. Verma was the chief guest present on this occasion.
It may be noted that in compliance with the decision passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, New Delhi in the case of Suresh Mahajan Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh and others, for a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry of the nature and implications of the backwardness of Other Backward Classes under local bodies within the State of Uttarakhand. A single-member dedicated commission has been constituted by the Uttarakhand government under the chairmanship of Justice B.S. Verma, former judge of the Honourable High Court of Nainital.
In the first phase of the program, an impressive presentation was made by the students of Law College Dehradun on the concept of political backwardness of Other Backward Classes. Justice B.S. Verma in his address stated that there is a difference between social and political backwardness, and both cannot be weighed on the same scale. Similarly, reservation and representation are two different concepts. He said that the jurisdiction of the single-member dedicated commission is to study the political backwardness and representation of Other Backward Classes and submit its report on the extent and basis of OBC reservation in local bodies in the state of Uttarakhand. He called upon the students to write research papers on the political backwardness of Other Backward Classes and send their suggestions to the Commission.
The symposium was also address by Pro Vice Chancellor Prof. Rajesh Bahuguna, former member of the Commission and Additional Secretary of Social Welfare Department Omkar Singh, Additional Director of Urban Development Department Ashok Pandey, Assistant Director of Panchayati Raj Department Vinod, Deputy Director Manoj Tiwari and Co-Director and Coordinator of the symposium Ms. Chitra Kanojia. At the end of the symposium, a question-answer session was organized in which the questions and doubts of the students regarding the political backwardness of OBCs were resolved by the experts present on the stage.
