Quota for creamy layer in GHMC polls
Hyderabad, Sept 20 (INN): The state Cabinet on Monday issued an ordinance to amend the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955 for the purpose of providing reservations to creamy-layer among the members of the Backward Communities in the election of GHMC, irrespective of sub-castes of BCs. Briefing media persons after the Cabinet Meeting at the state Secretariat on Monday, Minister for Information and Broadcasting J Geetha Reddy also revealed that Special Officers would be appointed to various Municipalities where the term of the Municipal Chairpersons would expire on September 29. She said that the issue of BCs enumeration and reservation to women in urban local bodies had also to be sorted out.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955, was amended by the Act Number 33 of 1986 introducing for the first time reservations to Backward Classes in electoral offices. The intent of the legislature was to empower the Backward Classes as a whole so as to ensure that reservations in elected offices are made available to all the sections within the Backward Classes irrespective of their inter-se classifications or the advancement of the sections therein. Further, ever since 1986, the reservation of wards for Backward Classes have been done without any further classification amongst them as A, B, C, D or any exclusion of advanced groups.
A batch of writ petitions were filed contending that having regard to Explanation-II to Section 5 (2) of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, the term Backward Classes as occurring in Section 5 (2) (b) of the Act will have to be reckoned as those Backward Classes recognised by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the purpose of Article 15 (4) of the Constitution of India and as such creamy layer sections among Backward Classes should be excluded to contest from the wards reserved for Backward Classes and reservation of wards for Backward Classes should be category-wise. The proposed Ordinance will enable reservation to all BCs in the elective posts in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation without reference to Sub-Categories.
News Posted: 20 September, 2010
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