 Ward division and reservation of seats to various categories in Telangana municipalities.
Government fixes the number of reserved wards as per various categories
Each municipality will be divided into a number of wards. The Government fixes the number of wards reserved for various categories in each municipality and also determines the wards which are reserved for these categories.
Seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes (SC), Backward Classes (BC), and Women. Reservation in favor of STs and SCs are made in proportion to their respective population of the municipality, and also in favor of BCs, subject to the condition that the total reservations do not exceed 50 percent of the total number of seats in the municipality.
Regarding women, 50% of the total seats reserved for STs, SCs, and BCs have to be reserved for women belonging to these categories, and further, 50% of total seats including seats reserved for women belonging to SCs, STs, and BCs have to be reserved for women. (this is called horizontal and vertical reservation).
Further, the reservations are made by rotation to different wards and it continues for two consecutive terms commencing from the first ordinary elections held under this Act.
The term of office of elected members is five years from the date of the first meeting of the municipality after ordinary elections. An ex-officio member holds office so long as he continues to be an MLA, MP (Lok Sabha), MLC, or MP (Rajya Sabha).
Qualification for candidates standing for elections.
The basic requirement is that he should be an elector in the municipality and is not less than 21 years of age. Secondly, if he is disqualified for election to the State Legislature (MLA) under the relevant law, he is not qualified as a candidate for a municipal election.
