Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has directed the officials to prepare an action plan for enhancing reservations for backward classes in the local bodiesโ elections.
The Chief Minister wanted officials concerned to take steps to enhance reservations for BCs and at the same time, prepare plans to conduct elections to the local bodies in time so that there are no hurdles in the release of funds by the Central government. Mr. Revanth Reddy convened a meeting of senior officials to review the progress of enhancement of reservations to backward classes in local bodies and timely conduct of elections to them on Monday.
He sought information about the implementation of rule of reservations in the local bodies and the steps that were being taken to hike the quota for BCs. Officials briefed the Chief Minister about the process adopted for the conduct of elections in the past and the arrangements that were being made for the next elections.
Mr. Revanth Reddy recalled that the government had given its consent for the enumeration of the backward classes population and wanted to know about the time by which elections could be conducted based on the caste census. Officials explained that caste census was taken up in Karnataka in 2015 and in Bihar in 2023. Though a similar exercise was conducted in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the results of which were not released so far.
The format adopted by the Central government in 2011 had 53 columns and it would take five-and-a-half months to hold the elections if three more columns were added to it. Senior Congress leader and former Minister K. Jana Reddy, who was also present in the meeting, explained the processes adopted for the conduct of local body elections in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh as well as Telangana.
He briefed the participants about the cases relating to BC reservations in the Supreme Court, their judgments and the developments that followed. The Chief Minister responded by directing the officials to prepare a detailed report on the implementation of the rule of reservation in local bodies and the policies that were adopted by previous governments in this regard.
Officials were asked to seek suggestions and clarify their doubts if any with Mr. Jana Reddy, retired officials with adequate experience in the process and experts in the Panchayat Raj affairs. They were asked to study the implementation of the rule of reservation in other States besides taking suggestions from the Advocate General on legal issues involved in the process. He said another meeting could be convened before the commencement of the assembly session if the officials expeditiously prepared their report in this regard for taking a final decision.
