Telangana to fight for BC quota in Panchayat Raj polls

​Hyderabad: The Cabinet sub-committee on Wednesday adopted a resolution that BC reservations in Panchayat Raj elections should not be less than 34 per cent for the Backward Classes and decided to knock the doors of the Supreme Court seeking the protection of the BC quota.

In the wake of High Court’s interim orders that the reservations in the elections should not exceed 50 per cent, the sub-committee, headed by Panchayat Raj Minister J Krishna Rao, held a meeting where he finalised the future course of action. On the advice of the legal experts who attended the meeting, the sub-committee resolved to move the apex court against the High Court orders.

The committee members said the BCs were provided 34 per cent reservations in the local bodies based on their population. The High Court’s order not to exceed 50 per cent of reservations will deprive the BCs of their rights.
Additional Advocate-General J Ramachandra Rao explained to the ministers that the Supreme Court had previously allowed the reservations up to 61 per cent in the civic body elections.

The minister said the issues related to fresh enumeration of the Backward Classes and appointment of special officers in gram panchayats (as the five-year term of the elected bodies is coming to an end this month) will be taken up in the next meeting to be presided over by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.

As the Chief Minister had already pleaded with the Centre to accord powers to the states in the finalisation of quota, Krishna Rao said the sub-committee will also take up the reservations issue with the Centre to avoid legal hurdles in future. The sub-committee members – T Harish Rao (Irrigation), E Rajendar (Finance), T Nageshwara Rao (Roads and Buildings) and A Indrakaran Reddy (Housing) were present.