Delimitation of Rural Local Bodies Completed
Gov's approval for BC quota Ordinance awaited
Hyderabad:The delimitation process of Gram Panchayats, Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), Zilla Praja Parishads (ZPPs), and Mandal Praja Parishads (MPPs) has been completed ahead of the upcoming local body elections in Telangana. The state government issued orders on Thursday, notifying the revised number of Gram Panchayats, MPTCs, ZPTCs, MPPs, and ZPPs following the delimitation exercise.
Owing to rapid urbanisation and the merger of several Gram Panchayats into municipalities and municipal corporations, the number of Gram Panchayats and wards in villages has decreased compared to the 2019 local body elections. Similarly, the number of MPTCs has also reduced.
The state government, meanwhile, has sent a draft ordinance to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, seeking his assent to amend the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, to facilitate 42 per cent reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies.
The Governor is expected to approve the ordinance within the next couple of days, enabling the State Election Commission to issue the election notification for local body polls.
According to the official notification, the number of Zilla Praja Parishads (ZPPs) has decreased to 31 from 32, while the number of ZPTCs has increased from 539 to 566. Similarly, Mandal Praja Parishads (MPPs) have also risen from 539 to 566. However, the number of MPTCs has dropped to 5,773 from 5,847. Gram Panchayats have been reduced to 12,778 from 12,848, and wards in Gram Panchayats have declined to 1,12,694 from 1,13,136.
To address the earlier issue of insufficient MPTC representation in some mandals, the government amended the criteria to ensure that each mandal has a minimum of five MPTC seats. Previously, some mandals had only two or three seats due to population constraints.
As per the new norms, one MPTC seat requires a minimum population of 3,500, and each Mandal Parishad President and Vice-President should have at least two MPTCs for election and quorum purposes. Consequently, new MPP seats have been created in several mandals.
A total of 71 Gram Panchayats have been merged into urban local bodies, including GHMC, municipal corporations, and municipalities. This has notably impacted the structure of MPTC constituencies, particularly in districts like Khammam, Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Mulugu, Ranga Reddy, and Medchal-Malkajgiri.
The draft ordinance underwent scrutiny by the law department before receiving approval from the panchayat raj department, the Chief Minister, and eventually being sent to the Raj Bhavan. Once approved by the Governor, the ordinance will come into effect, and the Dedicated Commission will make reservation recommendations, which will be forwarded to the State Election Commission for the announcement of reservations.
Meanwhile, the State Election Commission is making all the arrangements to hold the local body elections in August and September. State Election Commissioner Rani Kumudini on Wednesday reviewed the availability of ballot boxes and the arrangements being made for the printing of ballot papers, among other things.
