TS Assembly passes GHMC Amendment Bill 2020
“The Forest Research Institute released a report recently revealing that the green cover in the State increased by 6-7 per cent which can be attributed to various measures by the State government.”
Hyderabad: The Telangana State Assembly passed the GHMC (Amendment Bill) 2020 making the 50 percent reservation for women mandatory in GHMC Council. Though the State government had issued orders in this regard earlier and provided 50 percent reservation for women in the GHMC Council during the previous elections, the new Bill gives it legitimacy. The Bill brings four more amendments to the GHMC Act including allocation of 10 per cent of GHMC budget for Green Budget.
Introducing the Bill in the State Assembly here on Tuesday, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao said the 50 percent reservation for women in GHMC Council was being implemented following an electoral promise made by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao earlier. He pointed out that TRS had set an example for others by getting women won from 79 municipal divisions against reservation of 75 of 150 municipal divisions in GHMC.
He stated that Telangana became the first State to provide 50 per cent reservation for women in all local bodies by amending the Panchayat Raj Act, the Municipal Act and the GHMC Act. He said the State had already achieved the feat even before the Centre started making efforts and sought the opinion of the States to provide 50 percent reservation for women in all legislative houses as per Article 243 (T) which mandates 33 percent reservation for women in all legislative houses.
Rama Rao said another amendment was making provision for setting aside 10 per cent of the total GHMC budget for the green budget being implemented across all local bodies in the State. He said the green budget of GHMC was only 2.5 percent which will be now increased to 10 per cent. “The Forest Research Institute released a report recently revealing that the green cover in the State increased by 6-7 per cent which can be attributed to various measures by the State government,” he added.