HYDERABAD: The state government on Friday issued a GO providing 42% reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies. With this, the total reservations will rise to 67%. If the Scheduled Caste (SC) population is factored in at 17% — as recorded in the Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey — the total would touch 69%, as announced by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy earlier this week.
The GO, which followed a massive exercise driven by data, legislative consensus, and constitutional principles, marks the Congress government’s fulfilment of one of its key election promises of providing 42% reservations for BCs.
Incidentally, the State Election Commission (SEC) has called a high-level review meeting on local body election preparedness on Saturday. Highly placed sources said the election notification is likely to be released on or before Monday, as the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (PR&RD) department has requested the SEC to conduct polls.
While the Backward Classes Welfare Department issued GO Ms No 09 on Friday, the roots of this decision trace back to February 2024, when the government initiated the ambitious SEEEPC Survey. The survey, approved by both Houses of the state Legislature, aimed to gather granular data on the social and economic status of various communities.
In November 2024, the government appointed retired IAS officer Busani Venkateshwara Rao as a one-man commission to analyse the data and recommend reservation proportions for BCs in local governance. The commission submitted its report in March 2025, noting that Backward Classes continued to lag behind despite constituting 56.33% of the state’s population. It recommended at least 42% reservation in political representation, particularly in local bodies.
Acting on these recommendations, the state government introduced the Telangana Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Rural and Urban Local Bodies) Bill, 2025, which was passed unanimously in both Houses of the Legislature and is currently awaiting Presidential assent.
To operationalise the Bill, the government tasked the commission with identifying local body-wise seats and positions that would fall under the reservation framework. The commission submitted its seat-wise report on August 28, 2025, paving the way for formal implementation.
The latest GO explicitly states that the decision is based on the “multi-dimensional backwardness” of BCs in Telangana and seeks to uphold the constitutional vision of equality, social justice, and inclusive growth. It mandates that the PR&RD and the Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department take immediate steps to implement the 42% quota.
Quota to reshape composition of local bodies
This is expected to significantly reshape the composition of local self-government institutions across the state ahead of the upcoming panchayat and municipal elections.
Subsequent to the issuance of the GO, the PR&RD Department released an order specifying comprehensive guidelines on reservations. With the government amending the provision on rotation of reserved seats — from once in two terms to every election — the guidelines outline the process for finalising seats as per the new framework.
Early reactions from civil society groups and BC organisations have been overwhelmingly positive, hailing the GO as a historic corrective measure. However, legal analysts caution that judicial scrutiny may lie ahead, as reservation ceilings have been contentious. With the latest GO, the total percentage of reservations exceeds the 50% cap set forth by the Supreme Court.
Telangana, however, appears confident, emphasising the empirical data backing, legislative sanction, and constitutional leeway granted under specific provisions for local body reservations. With this GO, the state becomes one of the few in India to institute such a high level of political reservation for BCs in local governance. Currently, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan have been implementing over 60% reservations (including 10% for the Economically Weaker Sections) not just in local bodies but also in employment.
With local body elections expected soon, the total number of voters stands at 1,67,03,168 — including 81,66,732 men, 85,35,932 women, and 504 others. Nalgonda district leads with 10,73,506 registered voters, followed by Nizamabad (8,51,417) and Khammam (8,02,690).
Over 5K BCs likely to become sarpanches
Out of 12,760 gram panchayats in the state, 5,359 (42%) are reserved for BC candidates, giving them the chance to be elected as sarpanches. The same reservation will also apply to the posts of 565 mandal parishad presidents and 31 zilla parishad chairpersons. Going by the policy, about 237 MPPs and 13 ZP chairpersons are expected to be elected from the BC community.