Telangana Cabinet to implement 42% quota for Backward Classes in local body elections
This comes nearly four months after the Telangana Assembly passed two key legislations clearing the way for 42 percent reservation for Backward Classes in government jobs, educational institutions and urban and rural local body polls.
Cabinet ministers Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Ponnam Prabhakar said at a press briefing held in Hyderabad Thursday that an ordinance to this effect will be promulgated soon.
Before taking the decision, the advocate general of the state was also consulted by the Cabinet, Srinivas Reddy said. Local body elections in Telangana will have to be held within three months, according to the Telangana High Court's directions.
The Bills passed by the Telangana Assembly in March were titled the Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of seats in educational institutions and of appointments for posts in services under the state) Bill, 2025, and the Telangana Backward Classes (Reservation of seats in urban and rural local bodies) Bill, 2025.
It was passed months after the state government's caste survey found that the BCs — including Muslim caste groups — form 56.33 percent of the state's population. The Bills were then sent to Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, who has referred them to President Droupadi Murmu.
Even if the state were to promulgate an ordinance, governor's assent will be required. 'We have taken all legal precautions to make sure that the ordinance is legally sound,' Srinivas Reddy said Thursday. The ordinance will effectively amend the state's Panchayat Raj Act – 2018, to increase the reservation for BCs to 42 percent.
The reservation for BCs is expected to face a legal challenge as implementation of this would breach the 49 percent reservation cap set by the Supreme Court of India. To breach this cap, state's bills will have to be included in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, similar to Tamil Nadu, where the reservation cap has been increased to 69 percent.
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