HYDERABAD: The State government on Sunday issued an Ordinance, amending the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act 2018, declaring that the total reservations in Panchayat Raj elections will not exceed 50 per cent.
The original Act had stated that not less than 34 per cent of the total number of offices in Gram Panchayats would be reserved for Backward Classes. However, total reservations, after accounting for reservations provided to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which are constitutional in nature, would have exceeded 50 per cent.
This would have been against the Supreme Court’s directions of not allowing total reservations to go beyond the halfway mark. Currently, as per the Census of 2011, STs get 6 per cent, SCs get 16 per cent. With the Ordinance, the total reservations for Backward Classes, which include Muslims under the BC (E) category, will now be 28 per cent, instead of 34 per cent as planned by the government earlier.
The State currently has 1,308 Panchayats in Scheduled Areas which are completely reserved for Sheduled Castes. Also, as many as 1,326 Panchayats are reserved for, and populated entirely, by Scheduled Tribes.
In the remaining 10,117 Panchayats in the State, according to the Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Ordinance-2018, the total reservation provided to any community cannot exceed 50 per cent.
‘Different purposes’
Way back in May 2010, Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan in the ‘K Krishna Murthy & Ors vs Union of India’ case, ruled that reservations in local governments were different from those in employment and education. He had said that policies evolved in relation to Article 15(4) and 16(4) could be readily applied in the context of local self government. The upper ceiling of 50 per cent vertical reservations in favour of SC/ST/OBCs should not be breached in this context,the SC order said.
Turning his attention to the villages, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said the villages are key to development of the State and the country.
After a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan on various aspects of Panchayat Raj and electoral promises made in the recent Assembly elections, the Chief Minister said the country and the State would be developed only if the villages are developed. So, one should concentrate on the development of villages, he added. During the meeting, Rao also instructed the officials concerned to appoint village secretaries to all gram panchayats.
Revealing the plans to give villages a facelift by effectively implementing new Panchayat Raj Act, Rao said that immediately after the Village Panchayat Raj elections, the initiatives aimed at developing the villages, their greenery and sanitation as well as environmental cleanliness must be stepped up.
9,355 new secretaries
The chief minister also said that in a first of its kind recruitment process aimed at having one village secretary for each of the 12,751 gram panchayats in the State, after creation of new zonal system, the government took up recruitment of 9,355 village secretaries. With the recruitment process has already been completed, the Chief Minister has signed the concerned file, instructing the District Collectors to issue appointment orders to the newly recruited village secretaries. The chief minister said that now every village would have village level officers who would be made responsible for the development of the village, its greenery and sanitation programmes.
The government will be conducting an awareness conclave for these 12,751 village secretaries -- both present and newly-recruited, MPDOs, EOPRDs, DPOs and DLPOs at LB Stadium in Hyderabad. The chief minister will deliver the inaugural address at the conclave which is scheduled to start at 2.00 p.m.
Aasara implementation
The Chief Minister also announced during the review meeting that as per the electoral promises every old age person on completion of 57 years would be provided with old pension under the Aasara scheme. Rao instructed Chief Secretary SK Joshi to draft modalities pertaining to the matter and decide on the process of identifying persons eligible for the pension.
Rao said that once the details of beneficiaries are worked out and the number is decided, the adequate provision would be made in 2019-20 budget and pension should be given with effect from April 1, 2019.
Sarees distribution
Chandrasekhar Rao also instructed the officers concerned to make arrangements for the distribution of Bathukamma sarees from December 19.
Recalling that though the sarees were kept ready for distribution ahead of the Bathukamma festival it had to deferred in view of the complaint made by the Congress party to the ECI before the elections, he instructed the officials to distribute Bathukamma sarees along with the distribution of clothes on the occasion of Christmas.
The CM also announced the decision to have MLA’s distribute the cheques of Kalyana Laxmi and Shadi Mubarak as was done before the election model code of conduct came into force ahead of elections.
When the poll code was in force, the district Collectors distributed the cheques to the eligible candidates.
New district and mandals
The CM instructed revenue principal secretary Rajeshwar Tiwari to commence the process of formation of two new districts —Mulugu and Narayanpet. Rao also instructed the revenue secretary to initiate the process of formation of new revenue division of Korutla as well as six new mandals. The new mandals to be formed are Ghattuppal Mandal in Nalgonda, Mallampally in Bhupalapally, Chanduru and Mosra in Bhanswada, Inugurthy in Mahbubabad and Narayanraopet in Siddipet.