Team Revanth to brainstorm on local body polls, BC quota

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, while chairing the cabinet meeting here on Thursday, will make a detailed presentation and unveil a road map for the conduct of elections to local bodies and the implementation of reservation for the BCs. The Chief Minister will seek the opinions of his cabinet colleagues to consider ways of overcoming the challenges in holding elections and providing 42 per cent reservation to backward communities.

Government takeover of the Metro Rail; push for irrigation projects, particularly Banakacherla; DA for government employees, and streamlining welfare schemes and HAM roads would also be part of the agenda at the cabinet meeting.

Apart from taking some administrative and policy decisions, the Chief Minister would focus on political factors in the wake of the bandh called by the BC Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Saturday. The key decisions include those relating to the Metro Rail project and the mobilization of funds to pay to the L&T company, which recently announced exiting the management of the Metro Rail.

Sources said that the cabinet is likely to finalise the schedule for the elections to local bodies if the Supreme Court gives some directions on the implementation of BC reservation in the local bodies.

The High Court has already permitted the state government to hold elections to local bodies by recourse to the previous reservation system. Now, the cabinet, during its meeting, will decide whether to go for local body elections by enforcing the old BC reservation.

The cabinet ministers have been instructed to come with details of the progress of the works in their respective departments. The idea is to review the reasons for the delay in the execution of the works in many departments and make appropriate recommendations to the secretaries concerned to expedite the process. Officials said that the cabinet is likely to take a decision on announcing pending DA for government employees.

Officials said that the Chief Minister will discuss the status of irrigation projects, including Banakacharla, and water disputes with Andhra Pradesh and take decisions at the meeting.