AP to provide 34% BC reservation in rural, 33.3% in urban local bodies

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday said the Cabinet took key decisions for BCs to enable their development by extending 34 per cent reservation in RLBs and 33.3 per cent reservation in ULBs.

Addressing the Assembly following a Cabinet meeting, the chief minister said the NDA coalition government will stand by BC communities and this decision will create history.

"We have decided to offer 34 per cent reservation for BCs in Rural Local Bodies (RLBs), 33.3 per cent in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and elect mayors and municipal chairmen in ULBs through direct elections," Naidu said.

According to the CM, the 34 per cent reservation will honour social justice.

Naidu recalled that reservations for BCs in local bodies were first introduced during the tenure of former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao. Subsequently, during his own tenure, reservations were enhanced to 34 per cent under the Panchayat Raj legislation.

"We have taken this decision as part of the coalition government's political principle and NDA's promise. We promised to give reservations to BCs in nominated posts during the polls and we have lived up to it," he said.

Naidu asserted that it was the TDP which came to the rescue of BCs earlier and also now through a coalition government.

The CM said the Cabinet had taken the decision to enhance BC reservations in local bodies in accordance with constitutional and legal provisions and within all applicable limits.

He said the NDA coalition government had fulfilled its electoral promise of providing 34 per cent reservations to BCs in local body elections by convening a special Cabinet meeting and taking a key decision on the issue.

The CM said the government needed to conduct local body elections to get Rs 2,300 crore in rural grants and Rs 1,562 crore in urban grants expected from the 16th Finance Commission.

He urged coalition leaders to identify capable candidates who could provide effective leadership in local bodies.

Naidu said the government's commitment to social justice had helped produce prominent BC leaders such as Yerrannaidu, KE Krishnamurthy, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Ayyanna Patrudu and Devender Goud.

He said political participation at the grassroots level could create strong leadership.

The chief minister announced that the government would transform BC residential schools into centres of excellence and strengthen opportunities for BCs in education, skills, employment, entrepreneurship and political representation.

Development, he stressed, should not be measured merely by roads, buildings and infrastructure, adding that true development meant improving living standards, reducing economic inequalities and ensuring that the last person in society moved forward.

Naidu reiterated that BC reservations were not against any community and that the NDA coalition government's objective was to achieve social justice in a constitutional, legal and equitable manner.

"BCs are not backward; they are people who have remained behind because they did not get adequate opportunities," he said.

Further, the CM noted that the Cabinet has decided to establish 28 Zilla Parishads across the state and accused the previous regime (YSRCP) of failing to protect BC reservations.

Naidu said the southern state has only 13 Zilla Parishads, but 28 districts. Hence, he said 28 Zilla Parishads will be established and called it a historic decision.

In the forthcoming polls, Andhra Pradesh will have 28 Zilla Parishads, he said.