AP Restores 34% Reservation for BCs in Seats/Offices in Rural Local Bodies
The reservation shall be implemented by following the prescribed procedure of allocation, rotation and enervation for women under the Act and Rules.
Vijayawada:The Andhra Pradesh government has restored 34 per cent reservation for Backward Classes in the seats and offices for the upcoming elections to gram panchayats, mandal praja parishads and zilla praja parishads.
Special chief secretary to panchayat raj and rural development Kantilal Dande issued GO-Ms-105 here on Thursday to provide 34 per cent reservations to the BCs.
The reservation for BCs will be applicable to the members of gram panchayats, sarpanch of gram panchayats, members of mandal praja parishads, presidents of mandal praja parishads, members of zilla praja parishads and chairpersons of zilla praja parishads.
The GO stated that the government has reviewed the reservation policy for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes in the panchayat raj institutions in view of ordinary elections to gram panchayats are due from 03-04-2026 and the expiry of the terms of elected bodies of mandal praja parishads and zilla praja parishad on 23-09-2026 and 24-09-2026 respectively.
The government observed that the reservation provided to the backward classes in the panchayat raj institutions had been reduced from 34 per cent to 24.15 per cent by the previous government.
The AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 provides for reservation for backward classes in respect of members and offices of gram panchayats, mandal praja parishads and zilla praja parishads under sections 9, 15, 152, 153 and 180 and 181.
The government now ordered that 34 per cent of the seats/offices shall be reserved for backward classes in accordance with the AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 and the Rules made there-under and the orders of the competent courts in force duly superseding the orders issued in the GO 2 and 3 to the extent they are inconsistent with these rules.
The reservation shall be implemented by following the prescribed procedure of allocation, rotation and enervation for women under the Act and Rules.
Moreover, as per the operational guidelines of the 16th Finance Commission, forming of a duly constituted Rural Local Bodies is an essential requirement for the eligibility to get grants, the GO said.
