Hyderabad, Oct 16 (IANS) The Telangana government on Thursday decided to scrap the two-child norm for contesting local body elections in the state.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

Minister for Information and Public Relations P. Srinivas Reddy told media persons that the Cabinet gave its approval to do away with the rule that bars individuals with more than two children from contesting the polls.

He said the government had received several representations to do away with the two-child norm. There have been views expressed that there is no need to implement this rule when population control is being strictly implemented in the state.

Under the existing laws, individuals with more than two children are not eligible to contest for elections to Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), ward members and sarpanches.

The State Cabinet also decided to expedite the Hyderabad Metro Rail expansion process. It discussed at length the issue of taking over the first phase of Metro from L&T. The government decided to take over the first phase being run in public-private partnership mode, as it had become an obstacle for the expansion of the Metro under phase 2A and 2 B.

The Cabinet decided to constitute a high-level committee of officials to study in depth the feasibility and all the issues related to taking over the Metro Rail from L&T.

Chief Secretary will be the chairman of the committee, which will have the Principal Secretary of the Finance Department, Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD), Law Secretary, Metro Rail MD, and Urban Transport Advisor as members.

The committee of officials will submit its report to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on resource mobilisation. The Cabinet will take a final decision on taking over the Metro from L&T based on the recommendations of the Cabinet Sub-Committee.

The Cabinet decided to take all steps to procure the entire paddy cultivate this monsoon season. It noted that the state produced a record 1.48 crore tonnes of grain. The Civil

The Supplies Department estimated that 80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy will reach the procurement centres in the state.

The Central government has agreed to procure 50 lakh tonnes. The state government has requested it to procure another 15-20 lakh tonnes.

Srinivas Reddy said, irrespective of the financial problems and other challenges, the government will procure every grain cultivated during the season.

It also decided to immediately deposit Rs. 500 per quintal bonus for a fine variety of paddy, along with the Minimum Support Price (MSP), in the farmers’ accounts.

The State Cabinet has decided to set up three new Agriculture Colleges in the State. These colleges will come up in Huzurnagar, Kodangal and Nizamabad.

The Cabinet decided to form a Sub-Committee to prepare plans for organising celebrations to mark the completion of two years of the government. The celebrations will be held from December 1 to 9.

The Cabinet approved the proposals to allocate an additional seven acres of land to NALSAR University of Law at its existing campus in Hyderabad. The Cabinet also decided to increase the seat quota for locals from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.

The Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Roads & Buildings Department to issue tenders for the construction of roads of a total length of 5,566 km for Rs. 10,547 crore under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM).

The project involves the construction, upgradation, and maintenance of roads connecting Gram Panchayats (GPs) to mandal headquarters, mandal headquarters to district headquarters, and district headquarters to State headquarters.

The State Cabinet has passed a resolution agreeing to bear the cost of Rs. 438 crore for the acquisition of 845 hectares of land for the construction of the Krishna-Vikarabad broad gauge railway line.

The Cabinet decided to allot 435.08 acres of land to the Defence Department as an alternative to the defence lands to be transferred to the state government for the construction of elevated corridors from Paradise Junction to Shamirpet ORR and Paradise Junction to Dairy Farm Road in Greater Hyderabad

The Cabinet has passed a resolution agreeing that the State Government to bear one-third of the total cost (Rs. 7,500 crore) for the construction of the Mannanoor-Srisailam elevated corridor over the reserved urban forest. The 75-km-long elevated corridor will be jointly constructed by the State and Central governments.

–IANS

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