The caste census would take a long time; even if expedited, the data would not give much freedom to enhance reservations for upcoming panchayat polls without breaching the 50 percent cap.
Published Sep 11, 2024 | 9:06 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 11, 2024 | 9:06 AM
Telangana panchayat polls. (iStock)
The Revanth Reddy government has taken the first decisive step for the caste census by constituting the Telangana Backward Classes Commission.
Senior Congress leader Goppishetty Niranjan has been appointed chairman of the commission. Rapolu Jayaprakash, Tirumalagiri Surender and Balalakshmi have been nominated members.
“The priority before the commission is to conduct the caste census. The process may take a minimum of three to four months. Once the census is ready, the commission will recommend the percentage of reservation for the BCs,” Niranjan told South First after assuming office.
By implication, it means that the panchayat elections, already long overdue, might get deferred further since the state government is keen on finalisation of the reservations first.
In an interesting coincidence, the Telangana High Court, on 10 September, asked the state government to complete the enumeration of BCs and decide on the quota for them for the upcoming panchayat elections within three months.
The court referred to a Supreme Court ruling in this regard. The state government, represented by Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy, said the apex court orders would be implemented in three months.
The BC Commission chairman said the caste census would be the basis for recommending the quota that would be set aside for BCs. If everything is done in the proper way, the court may allow reservations even beyond 50 percent, Niranjan said. He, however, said it would be for the government to decide how much the quota should be. “Our job is to make recommendations on the basis of the caste census,” he said.
According to sources in the Congress, the State Election Commission will have to wait for the green light from the government for conducting the local body elections, unlike the Election Commission of India which does not have to wait for the central government’s consent for holding the Assembly or Lok Sabha elections.
All the 12,769 panchayats in the state slipped into special officers’ rule since 2 February, 2024, making them ineligible for the 15th Finance Commission funds released to the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs).
Though the Congress had promised enhancement of reservations for the BCs to 42 percent ahead of the Assembly elections, not much has been done in this direction after the party came to power in the state in December 2023.
For the Congress to take a call on percentage of reservation, the BC commission will have to make recommendations once the caste census is done. All this would take a long time and, in the meanwhile, the gram panchayats would languish, and funds under the 15th Finance Commission would elude them.
Though the Congress has the option of going for the local body elections with the existing percentage of reservations, the BC associations have been pressing for enhancement of reservations for the BCs in proportion to their population before the elections to the local bodies. The government seems to be yielding to this pressure from BC associations and political parties.
In 2018, the then BRS government issued an Ordinance, amending the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, declaring that the total reservations in Panchayat Raj elections will not exceed 50 percent.
The BRS government had to do this because the original 2018 Panchayati Raj Act had reserved 34 percent of the total number of offices in Gram Panchayats for Backward Classes.
However, total reservations, after accounting for reservations provided to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), which are mandated by the constitution, had crossed 50 percent, necessitating amendment as the provision of 34 percent for BCs would conflict with the Supreme Court’s 50 percent cap order.
As per 2011 census, STs have six percent reservation, and SCs, 16 percent. If 34 percent reservation is provided for the BCs, the total reservations would reach 56 percent. The amendment to the Act reduced the BCs’ reservation to 28 from 34 to remain within the 50 percent cap set by the Supreme Court.
According to sources, the caste census would take a long time; even if expedited, the data would not give much freedom to enhance reservations without breaching the 50 percent cap.
If the government decides to conduct panchayat elections under the existing arrangement, there will be no technical problem since the 2018 Panchayat Raj Act had stipulated that the reservation percentage for BCs need not be changed for two terms. As this would be the second term, the state government could go in for the elections under the existing arrangement.
As the delay continues, the panchayats will have no elected representatives, and would be ruled by special officers. Earlier, when panchayats faced shortage of funds, the sarpanches would manage the show, sometimes dipping into their personal savings for emergency work in the hope that one day the government would reimburse their expenditure. Now, however, the special officers are not people’s representatives and may not display such commitment to providing the required services in the absence of funds.
The Fifteenth Finance Commission (2021-22 to 2025-26) allocated ₹7,201 crore to Telangana for those five years, of which 60 percent is a tied grant and the remaining 40 percent, untied grant.
For 2024-25, the Finance Commission made an allocation of ₹1,514 crore for panchayati raj institutions which include village panchayats. Till such time as elected bodies take over the panchayats, these funds are out of bounds for them.
(Edited by Rosamma Thomas)
