T'gana to constitute dedicated panel for survey on Backward Class quota

Hyderabad, Nov 3 : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday asked the officials to constitute a dedicated Commission to conduct an empirical data survey over reservations for Backward Classes in local bodies.

The state government decided to constitute an exclusive Commission as per the orders of the Telangana High Court'.

The government had earlier entrusted the task to the Backward Classes Commission.

At a meeting on Sunday, the Chief Minister instructed the officials to take the necessary steps to constitute the dedicated Commission by Monday.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting at his residence in Jubilee Hills. The meeting discussed the recent High Court order.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president (TPCC) Mahesh Kumar Goud, ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, Sridhar Babu, Damodar Rajanarasimha and senior officials attended the meeting.

The Chief Minister directed officials to take precautions to ensure that there are no legal hurdles in reservations for backward classes in local bodies.

The High Court last week directed the state government to establish a dedicated commission within two weeks to conduct a thorough empirical data survey to facilitate reservations for backward classes in the upcoming local body elections and submit a compliance report.

A single-judge bench found the state’s existing approach of tasking the Backward Class Commission with data collection contrary to the Supreme Court’s judgment in ‘Vikas Kumar Gavali vs. State of Maharashtra’.

The Supreme Court had mandated that a distinct commission must be constituted specifically for empirical data collection related to reservations for backward classes.

The High Court passed the orders on a writ petition filed by former Rajya Sabha member and Backward Class leader R. Krishniah who urged the court to order a dedicated commission, separate from the Backward Class Commission, for collecting data.

Meanwhile, the Telangana government is launching a comprehensive survey from November 6 to assess the socio-economic and caste details of the entire population.

Telangana is claimed to be the first state to take up a comprehensive caste survey. Based on its findings, the government will decide the quantum of funds to be allocated for each welfare programme.