Telangana Begins Process to Issue Ordinance on BC Quota
The current law restricts reserved seats to 50 per cent. In the 2019 local body elections, the BRS government had allocated only 22 per cent to BCs to remain within this limit.
Hyderabad: A day after the Cabinet approved 42 per cent reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies, the panchayat raj department initiated the process to amend the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 on Friday, to pave the way for an ordinance to implement the enhanced quota.
The state government plans to issue the prdinance within a week and conduct zilla parishad and mandal parishad elections in August, followed by gram panchayat and municipal elections in September. The Telangana High Court has set a deadline of September 30 for the government to conduct the local body elections.
Official sources in the panchayat raj department said that, in consultation with the law department, they had begun drafting amendments to Section 285A of the Panchayat Raj Act, enacted by the previous BRS government in 2018.
The current law restricts reserved seats to 50 per cent. In the 2019 local body elections, the BRS government had allocated only 22 per cent to BCs to remain within this limit.
The Congress government has now opted to increase BC reservations to 42 per cent, along with 18 per cent for SCs and 10 per cent for STs, bringing the total to 70 per cent — well beyond the 50 per cent cap mandated by the Supreme Court.
To support this move, the government is relying on data from the caste census conducted in November-December 2024 and the findings of the Dedicated BC Commission, which submitted its report on BC political representation in March 2025.
Officials said Section 285A would be amended to replace the restrictive clause with a provision allowing reservations to exceed 50 per cent under special circumstances, based on empirical data and the BC Commission’s report.
The government is confident of overcoming legal challenges, arguing that the enhanced reservations are backed by empirical evidence. Officials believe that the caste census and the Commission report will provide sufficient justification to legally sustain the 42 per cent reservation for BCs in local body elections.
