Key Points

The Backward Classes Welfare Department issued the Government Order (GO), which is expected to pave the way for the conduct of local body elections.

The Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department and Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department will reserve 42 per cent seats for BCs before the announcement of the poll schedule.

The GO mentions that a dedicated Commission was constituted in November 2024 to conduct "a contemporaneous rigorous empirical enquiry into the nature and implication of the backwardness qua local bodies in order to specify the proportion of reservations to be provisioned".

The dedicated Commission, which also analysed the empirical data of the caste survey, submitted its report in March 2025. It observed that the BCs continue to remain relatively lagging compared to their population of 56.33 per cent in the state and recommended at least 42 per cent reservation in political representations, particularly in local bodies.

The state government issued the GO as the two Bills passed by the Assembly on August 31 were still awaiting the Governor's approval.

The Telangana Municipalities (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Telangana Panchayat Raj (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025, were passed to enhance BC reservation in local bodies to 42 per cent by removing the 50 per cent cap on the quota for all categories.

Earlier in March, the Assembly had passed two Bills to enhance BC reservations to 42 per cent in education, employment and local bodies.

However, the two Bills have not yet received the President's approval.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had led a protest by ministers, MPs and state legislators in Delhi, to demand that the Centre give the nod for the two Bills.

He had also stated that they also sought an appointment with President Droupadi Murmu to make a representation, but received no response from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

- IANS