Telangana Government introduces key welfare bills in Legislative Assembly

Hyderabad: The Telangana government introduced several key bills in the Legislative Assembly on March 17, 2025, focusing on social welfare.

Minister Damodar Raja Narsimha presented the SC Categorization Bill, while Minister Ponnam Prabhakar introduced the BC Reservation Bill. Minister Konda Surekha brought forward the Endowments Act Amendment Bill. Additionally, a bill was introduced to rename the Telugu University after Suravaram Pratap Reddy.

The bills aim to legalize the categorization of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and provide 42% reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in politics, education, and jobs. A special debate on these bills is scheduled for today and tomorrow.

The government also plans to increase BC reservations in local bodies. Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and Minister Konda Surekha recently held a meeting to discuss these changes, with political parties expected to meet to support the bills.

The government recently conducted a socio-economic caste survey to support the proposed changes. The survey results included caste-wise census data, which helped the government decide to increase BC reservations in line with their population. Currently, the state's BC reservation stands at 29%, with 25% allocated to BCs and 4% for Muslims under BC-E. The proposed bill will raise this to 42%.

Earlier, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy announced that the SC categorization will be implemented in the state once the Supreme Court delivers its verdict. A sub-committee has been formed under Minister Uttam, and a one-man commission headed by Justice Shamim Akhtar has been appointed to ensure the legal integrity of the process. The commission's report, submitted in February, recommended classifying SC sub-castes into three groups. The government has asked the commission to address objections and suggestions from other caste groups before finalizing the categorization. The SC Categorization Bill has been drafted based on the commission’s findings.