Telangana to constitute new BC Commission body soon

The Congress has promised to implement 42 percent reservations for BCs in local body elections in its manifesto for Assembly polls.

Hyderabad: With the tenure of the Backward Classes Commission coming to an end on August 31, the State government has reportedly started the process of constituting a new body.

Sources said the State government is in a hurry to constitute the new body as it wants to take up Caste Census to determine the reservations share of the BCs at the earliest so that it facilitates earmarking reservations in the upcoming elections to the gram panchayats, mandal and zilla parishads. To implement this, caste census is mandatory to determine the BC population.

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The Congress has promised to implement 42 percent reservations for BCs in local body elections in its manifesto for Assembly polls. The Congress government had passed a resolution in the Legislative Assembly in February for conducting a caste survey, however, it could not be done due to the election code for Lok Sabha polls.

The cabinet has already approved the caste census proposal and even earmarked Rs.150 crore for this purpose. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was reportedly not in favour of entrusting the caste survey responsibility to a BC Commission that comprised BRS leaders, hence, he waited till the commission’s tenure came to an end.

It is learnt that soon the government would constitute a new body and ask it to take up caste surveys at the earliest. The BC associations and leaders have been demanding the government to conduct caste census so that their communities get the benefits of various schemes and programmes of the government and get their share of reservation in local bodies.

Recently, an all-party meeting held with representatives from various political parties, BC organisations and caste associations, unanimously called for the immediate commencement of the caste census. They also expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s inaction on BC-related demands, despite the promises made during the election campaign.

Members owing allegiance to BC Azadi Youth Federation launched an indefinite fast in Karimnagar on August 25 demanding a comprehensive caste census.