The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Monday (May 18, 2026) approved the formation of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) commission for the three-tier rural bodies.

The OBC panel will have five members, with a retired high court judge as the Chairperson, for a term of six months. They will be tasked with determining the reserved seat allocations within the rural bodies.

The proposal for the formation of the 'Uttar Pradesh State Local Rural Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission' ('Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sthaniya Gramin Nikaay Samarpit Pichhada Varg Aayog') was approved during a Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here on Monday.

This was the first cabinet meeting after the May 10 expansion of the Council of Ministers headed by Mr. Adityanath.

The last panchayat elections in the State were held in 2021 and could be held later this year.

The State government will appoint members to the panel with knowledge of matters related to backward classes, with one of them a retired high court judge who will be the chairperson, according to the proposal that was presented in the Cabinet meeting.

The tenure of the Chairperson and members of this commission shall be for a period of six months from the date of their appointment and may be extended if necessary.

According to the proposal by a senior official of the Panchayati Raj Department, the dedicated State commission for the backward classes within local rural bodies is in compliance with orders passed by the Supreme Court.

It is being set up with the objective of providing reservations in the three-tier panchayat bodies in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

This commission has been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring proportional reservations for people belonging to Other Backward Classes in the rural bodies. The mandate involves carrying out the necessary procedures to determine the allocation of reservations for various posts within the three-tier panchayats.

As per the proposal, the State government shall, by an order, reserve seats and offices in all three levels of the panchayat bodies for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes.

The reservation for the Backward Classes shall not exceed 27% of the total number of offices in the three-tier panchayats. Furthermore, if population data for the Backward Classes is unavailable, their population may be determined by conducting a survey in the prescribed manner, it said.