The Telangana government will drop the “two‑child” rule that has barred families from more than two children from standing for local‑body elections. At a Cabinet meeting led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday, officials approved the deletion of Section 21(3) of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018. The section, which kept candidates with more than two kids from running, will be removed by a new ordinance that will be sent to the Governor for approval.
P. Srinivas Reddy, the state’s Information and Public Relations minister, explained that the ordinance will be drafted now because the Assembly is on break. He added that the decision follows the High Court’s ruling that paused the government order reserving 42 percent of local‑body seats for Backward Classes, and the Supreme Court’s stance not to interfere with that judgement.
The Cabinet also said a petition on the local‑body election rules is set to be heard on November 3. The government will act on the High Court’s orders on that day, and another meeting will take place on November 7 to resolve questions about Backward‑Class reservations and the upcoming elections.
In other news, the Telangana cabinet moved to finish the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC), which is home to the world’s longest tunnel. The tunnel measures 44 km, and about 35 km have already been dug from both ends. Work paused in February after a roof collapse that killed eight workers. The government has switched to advanced drilling techniques, avoiding tunnel‑boring machines, to finish the last 9 km while protecting forest and wildlife. The goal is to complete the SLBC by June 2028, to bring irrigation water to 350,000 acres and provide drinking water to fluoride‑affected areas in Nalgonda district.
The Cabinet also urged rapid progress on four super‑specialty hospitals in the state: Warangal, LB Nagar, Sanath Nagar, and Alwal. It has green‑lit the construction of a 1500 MW battery energy‑storage facility and asked the Electricity Department to decide where to build it next.
Finally, the cabinet approved shutting down the 62.5‑MW unit at the 52‑year‑old Ramagundam Thermal Station, citing its expiry. The Electricity Department will now outline a future power plan, drawing on current demand and projections for the next decade.
Source: ianslive
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