Patidar Anamant Andolan Samiti to apply for OBC status without survey

Ahmedabad: Bringing the Patidar reservation issue back in focus, Patidar Anamant Andolan Samiti (PAAS) has demanded that the members of the community be granted OBC status without conducting any survey.

The Hardik Patel-led body, which is fighting for the cause of reservation for Patels in government jobs and educational institutions, will tomorrow submit an application to State OBC Commission for granting them Other Backward Class status without any survey.

PAAS will highlight eleven points to prove that the community does not require any survey for its qualification for entry into OBC category, its convener Dinesh Bambhania said on Wednesday.

"Since 2012, we have submitted fourteen applications to the Commission making our demand for entry into OBC category, but they have all gone unheard. So, we will tomorrow submit an application for our place into the category constitutionally without the need for a survey," Bambhania said.

PAAS has accused the state government of trying to mislead Patidars by asking sub-communities like Leuva and Kadva Patels to make separate applications for the process.

"We have shown in the application that we are backward socially and politically, and our representation in government job is far lower in proportion to our population," the Patel leader said.

The Gujarat OBC Commission is headed by High Court Justice (retd) Sugnyaben Bhatt.

Gujarat has 146 notified OBC communities at present.

For inclusion of any community in OBC list, the Commission conducts survey after application is made by any community to decide if it could be categorised as backward class and given the benefits of reservation.

Patel community members have been agitating for OBC status and had resorted to a violent stir under Hardik last year.

Hardik, who was booked for sedition, is currently staying in Udaipur as per the condition set by the High Court while granting him bail.