Cabinet To Discuss BC Quota Options, Water Projects
The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will meet on Thursday at the Secretariat to deliberate on key policy issues, including the conduct of local body elections, implementation of Backward Class (BC) reservations and approval of an ordinance to repeal the two-child norm for contesting local body polls.
Hyderabad: The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will meet on Thursday at the Secretariat to deliberate on key policy issues, including the conduct of local body elections, implementation of Backward Class (BC) reservations and approval of an ordinance to repeal the two-child norm for contesting local body polls.
The Cabinet is expected to focus primarily on the BC reservations issue. Following the Telangana High Court’s interim orders striking down 42 per cent BC quota in local bodies and the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the review petition, the state government had set up a committee of legal experts to examine possible remedies. The committee has now submitted its report, which will be reviewed by the Cabinet to decide the next legal and policy steps.
The discussion will centre on whether the upcoming local body elections should be conducted under the existing 50 per cent cap on total reservations or whether new legal avenues can be explored to restore the proposed 42 per cent BC quota. Courts have made it clear that overall reservations cannot exceed 50 per cent, while the state’s proposal would take the total to 67 per cent.
Officials said the Cabinet will also ratify the ordinance scrapping the two-child norm, which disqualifies candidates with more than two children from contesting. The ordinance will be sent to the Governor for final approval. The decision follows the Cabinet’s earlier meeting on October 16, where the norm was relaxed after the High Court’s stay on local body elections due to the BC quota issue.
Besides these, the Cabinet will discuss major infrastructure and irrigation projects, including the revival of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC), restoration works on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme project and construction of the Pranahita-Chevella project at Tummidihatti. The government is also likely to name the second phase of the Sriramsagar Project (SRSP) after late Congress leader Ramreddy Damodar Reddy in recognition of his contribution to the irrigation sector in Nalgonda district.
The meeting may also take up discussions on welfare schemes promised during the 2023 elections and political strategy for the upcoming Jubilee Hills Assembly by-election, where the Congress is keen to wrest the seat from the BRS. Reports indicate that one more key poll promise may be rolled out soon as part of the government’s public outreach.
