Hyderabad: The Telangana government accelerated steps to hold local body elections with 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs). Officials completed the allocation process and will hand over the sealed list of reservations to the government by Tuesday evening. Sources said the election notification could follow within four to five days.
BC quota based on caste survey
The reservation list is based on the recommendations of a special commission. While officials used the 2011 Census for Scheduled Castes, they relied on the 2024 caste survey for BCs. The commission issued recommendations for six levels — from ward members and sarpanches to Zilla Parishad chairpersons. Therefore, the quota distribution will reflect the BC population share in each area.
Government plans ordinance route
The Assembly earlier passed a bill providing 42 per cent BC reservations in local bodies. However, the Centre has not acted on it yet. Since the High Court deadline of September 30 is approaching, the state government decided to issue a special government order (GO) to enforce the quota and begin the election process. Meanwhile, officials also plan to request more time from the High Court.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will soon chair a high-level meeting to review the developments.
Large-scale exercise across the state
The reservation process advanced rapidly at multiple levels. Telangana has 12,760 gram panchayats, 1,12,534 wards, 5,763 MPTCs, 565 MPPs, 565 ZPTCs, and 31 Zilla Parishad chairperson posts. MPDOs are fixing ward reservations, while RDOs are handling sarpanch and MPTC allocations. District collectors are finalising MPP and ZPTC reservations. In addition, the Panchayat Raj commissioner is deciding the ZP chairperson reservations.
