Hyderabad: The Telangana cabinet has decided to go ahead with its plan to conduct the local body elections in the state by implementing 42 percent reservation for the Backward Classes (BC) in the local bodies.
The cabinet has also decided to bring an ordinance to amend the 2018 legislation on reservations in the local bodies.
The 19th state cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister A Revanth Reddy, was held at Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat on Thursday, July 10.
The cabinet meeting that went on for almost 4 hours, during which the action items from the last cabinet meeting were reviewed by the ministers.
Addressing the media after the cabinet meeting, revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy said that the advocate general was also invited to the cabinet meeting, to take his advice on going ahead with the local body elections without any legal hassles as per the High Court’s direction to the state government last week, to conduct the local body elections within 3 months.
BC welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar said that the 50 percent cap on reservations has already been breached in various states, including those being ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and expressed confidence in conducting the elections with 42 percent quota for BCs in Telangana as planned.
Ponnam also said that the cabinet has decided to give notification for 17,000 jobs and announce the revised job calendar. He assured that 1 lakh jobs will be filled by March 2026.
Ponguleti announced that two educational institutions, namely Amity University and St Mary’s Rehabilitation Educational Institutions, were being upgraded as deemed universities in Telangana.
He said that the chief minister has informed the management of Amity University to provide 50 percent reservation to the students of Telangana joining the university. He predicted that St Mary’s Rehabilitation University would become a role model in the country for skill development in the near future.
He also said that the cabinet has decided to complete the land acquisition for various irrigation projects that were left pending by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, and to complete the pending works in those projects.
He said the next cabinet meeting will be held on July 25, and going forward, cabinet meetings will be held once every fortnight. Additionally, once every three months, a meeting will be convened to review the decisions taken and their implementation over the previous quarter.
New Gau Shala and Sports policies
The cabinet also decided to bring about a policy for the protection of cows in Gau Shalas in the state.
Animal husbandry minister Vakiti Srihari said that there were 306 Gau Shalas in the state, where cows were being crammed into a smaller area in these Gau Shalas.
He announced that Gau Shalas will be established in the veterinary university, Vemulawada and more in Yadagirigutta, and under the new policy, registration and operation of these Gau Shalas will be done.
He also said that this year, 82 crore fish fingerlings were going to be released into the minor irrigation tanks across the state, by spending Rs 122 crore.
He expressed happiness over bringing a new sports policy in the state, as he also holds the youth and sports affairs portfolio.
