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Hyderabad, Oct 23 (IANS) The Telangana government has decided to issue an ordinance to scrap the two-child rule for contesting local body elections in the state. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday.
The Cabinet approved the deletion of Section 21(3) of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, which bars candidates with more than two children from contesting local body elections.
Information and Public Relations Minister P. Srinivas Reddy told media persons on Thursday night that since the Assembly has been prorogued, a draft ordinance to remove the section will be sent to the Governor for his approval.
The two-child norm was introduced in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1994 and was also continued in Telangana in the Panchayat Raj Act of 2018.
This issue was discussed in the last cabinet meeting and in principle it was decided to abolish this rule.
Many states including Andhra Pradesh have already abolished this rule.
The Cabinet decided that the Government will have to proceed as per the advice of legal experts in view of the interim judgment of the High Court, staying the Government Order (GO) providing 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes in local bodies, and the judgment of the Supreme Court, which had refused to interfere with the High Court order.
On holding local body elections, the Cabinet said that a petition in this regard will come up for hearing on November 3. The government will proceed as per the orders of the High Court on that day.
It was decided to call another cabinet meeting on November 7 to discuss and take decisions on backward class reservation and local body elections.
The Cabinet decided to resume work on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC), said to be the world’s longest tunnel. It was decided to carry out the remaining tunnel work with state-of-the-art drilling expertise.
It was decided to complete the SLBC project at all costs. The projects aim to provide water to 3.50 lakh acres through gravity and provide irrigation and drinking water to fluoride affected areas in the combined Nalgonda district.
The Cabinet has given permission to use advanced drilling methods in place of the tunnel boring machines used till now for tunnel digging.
The contracting agency has come forward to complete the remaining work without any change in the estimated cost. The Cabinet has approved handing over the work of completing the tunnel excavation to the same contract company.
Out of the total 44 km long tunnel, till now excavation of 35 km tunnel has been completed from both sides. Work was halted on February 22 when eight workers died when the tunnel roof collapsed.
The Cabinet approved the use of state-of-the-art technology to dig the remaining 9 km of tunnel without disturbing the forest, environment and wildlife.
It has been decided to complete SLBC by June 2028.
The cabinet discussed the early completion of four super specialty hospitals under construction in the state. It has directed officials to expedite the construction of Warangal Super Specialty Hospital, LB Nagar Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS), Sanath Nagar TIMS and Alwal TIMS.
The State Cabinet has given in-principle approval to proposals to set up 1500 MW of battery energy storage units in the state. It has directed the electricity department to take appropriate decisions regarding where these constructions should be done.
The Cabinet has approved decommissioning of 52 year old Ramagundam Thermal Station (RTS-B 62.5 MW Unit) at Ramagundam as its life has expired.
The Cabinet has directed the Electricity Department to prepare future plans as per the current electricity needs of the state and the estimated electricity demand for the next 10 years.
–IANS
MS/PGH