Retired IAS officer Busani Venkateswara Rao has been appointed chairman of the dedicated commission. B Saidulu, secretary of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Educational Institutions Society will assist the Commission.
Published Nov 05, 2024 | 9:10 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 05, 2024 | 9:10 AM
The Busani Venkateswara Rao Commission has been asked to submit its report preferably within a month. (Telangana CMO/X)
Telangana government has set up a dedicated commission to conduct an empirical data survey of Backward Classes (BCs) for reservation in local bodies.
The Congress-led government issued the order setting up the commission on Monday, 4 November, ahead of its senior leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state to attend a workshop on caste census on Wednesday, 6 November.
The caste census was one of the major promises the Congress had made, and hence Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the PCC invited Gandhi to kick off the exercise.
Meanwhile, in pursuance of a high court directive, the backward classes department issued the government order late on Monday, constituting the dedicated commission.
The setting up of the commission was also in compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2010 order, saying the panel so constituted should be entrusted with the task of conducting the “triple test” for the orderly and transparent implementation of the constitutional mandate in implementing reservations for the BCs.
1) Whether a dedicated commission has been appointed to make empirical inquiry into the nature of backwardness in local bodies.
2) Whether the commission has collected quantifiable data on the backwardness of the OBCs and
3) Whether reservation for BCs was not exceeding the aggregate of 50 percent of total seats reserved for SCs, STs, and OBCs.
The government appointed a retired IAS officer, Busani Venkateswara Rao, as the chairman of the dedicated commission. B Saidulu, secretary, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Telangana Backward Classes Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (MJPTBCWREIS) will be the secretary to assist the Commission.
The commission has to submit a comprehensive report to the state government preferably within a month. The dedicated commission can consider the material evidence collected by the BC Commission to facilitate the commission for expeditious submission of the report.
Services of experts and researchers could be sought in consultation with them and if necessary, the commission could go on study tours. The commission could also seek the assistance of recognised research institutions as and when necessary for the analysis of the empirical data.
On 30 October, the Telangana High Court directed the state government to constitute a dedicated commission to do an empirical data survey for implementation of reservations for the BCs in the ensuing local body elections.
The court found fault with the state government for entrusting the data collection survey work to the existing BC Commission as it conflicted with the Supreme Court’s verdict.
The apex court had said that for extending reservations to the BCs, a separate dedicated commission has to be constituted for the collection of empirical data.
The high court issued the direction on a petition filed by former Rajya Sabha member R Krishnaiah, who urged that there should be a separate distinct commission to conduct the survey.
After the state government decided to constitute a dedicated commission, Krishnaiah called on the chief minister and thanked him for his prompt response to the high court’s directive.
The chief minister, on Sunday, 3 November, asked the officials to issue a GO constituting the commission so that the extension of reservations to the BCs in the upcoming local body elections would not hit any roadblocks.
He gave the direction at a meeting he held at his residence with ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy, D Sridhar Babu, Damodar Raja Narasimha, and PCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud.
Revanth Reddy said that though the caste census was underway, a dedicated commission had to be set up for the implementation of the reservations for the BCs in accordance with the high court and Supreme Court orders in the past.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
