BCs to get 42%
- Cabinet nod to hold local polls with enhanced quota
- Decides to promulgate ordinance to amend the PR Act
Hyderabad: In a pathbreaking move, the Telangana government on Thursday announced the implementation of 42 per cent quota for BCs (Backward Classes) in the ensuing local body elections. The state Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at the Secretariat on Thursday, ratified the proposal to enforce the 42 per cent BC quota, which has been finalized based on the caste survey, to provide political opportunities to the backward communities in the elections.
Before taking the historic decision to enhance the BC quota, the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues held a detailed discussion with state Advocate-General A Sudarshan Reddy and sought clarification on legal challenges, if any, to implement the proposed BC quota in the ensuing local body polls after the Cabinet’s ratification. Modalities will be finalized to implement the quota soon.
Briefing the press after the Cabinet meeting, Information and Public Relations Minister P Srinivas Reddy said the Cabinet also approved a proposal for the promulgation of an ordinance to amend the Panchayat Raj Act -2018 through a legal process to bring the BC quota into force. Sarpanch, MPTC, ZPTC and ZP Chairman will be taken as a unit at village, mandal, district and state level to implement the BC quota. The minister criticized the Union government for not giving approval to implement the BC quota despite the CM and ministers pleading with the Union ministers several times.
Claiming that the Telangana state is a role model for the country in holding a Cabinet meeting every 15 days, Srinivasa Reddy said the Cabinet has also decided to hold a special Cabinet meeting once in three months and review the implementation of the decisions taken during the preceding three-month period.
He said in the 19th Cabinet meeting on Thursday, the Chief Minister, ministers and Secretaries reviewed the progress of the implementation of 327 decisions related to 23 departments taken in the previous Cabinet meetings. Perhaps, for the first time in India, the state Cabinet analysed the implementation of the decisions it had taken, and it was found that 96 per cent of decisions were implemented, he added.
BC Welfare Minister P Prabhakar said that through the historic Cabinet decision, the state government fulfilled the Congress party’s Kamareddy Declaration which called for the enhancement of BC quota in the local body polls.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet took a serious note of the pending irrigation projects and decided to expedite the works and complete them in a time bound manner to expand irrigation facilities. The Cabinet observed that the previous BRS government spent large amounts of funds, but no project was completed, and it affected the irrigation sector, the I & PR Minister said.
The Cabinet also approved the proposal to upgrade Amity Educational Institution and Saint Mary’s Educational Institution as universities. The Amity accepted the condition to provide 50 per cent seats to Telangana students and Saint Mary’s will introduce skill development courses.
In view of increasing demand for jobs, the Cabinet discussed issuing notification to fill 22,000 jobs and speed up the recruitment process to fill another 17,000 jobs for which the process is at various stages. The Cabinet also instructed the state Finance department to review the performance of the outsourcing and contract employees.
The Chief minister also ordered the officials to introduce reforms to increase the employees’ accountability in the discharge of their duties. The government already constituted an official committee and asked it to submit a report in this regard in two months.
Animal Husbandry Minister V Srihari said the Cabinet discussed the draft Goshala (cow shelters) policy and recommended some suggestions for setting up new cow shelters as well as strengthening the existing 306 goshalas in the state. He also said that Rs 22 crore special budget was allocated to purchase fishlings and release them in water bodies in the coming season. Scientific methods would be adapted to promote pisciculture, the minister added.
