Hyderabad: The state government is all set to abolish the two-child policy that bars individuals with more than two children from contesting gram panchayat elections. This move comes nearly two decades after the policy was implemented in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1994 for both urban and rural local body elections. The rule was repealed for urban local body elections in Telangana in 2019.
According to official sources, the Congress government led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has decided to amend the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 to remove provisions that disqualify candidates with more than two children from contesting in panchayat elections. As the Legislative Assembly and Council are not in session now, the state government plans to use an ordinance to abolish the rule.
The five-year tenure of gram panchayats ended in February, and the government aims to hold elections in November or December. The Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC) has already started preparing electoral rolls in September, and the final voters' list is expected to have approximately 1.68 crore voters.
Polling will be conducted via ballot paper. The TSEC has procured ballot boxes from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to meet the demand. Sources say the decision to abolish the two-child rule reflects changing socio-economic conditions and population dynamics, with the state’s total fertility rate (TFR) on the decline.
Andhra Pradesh had abolished the two-child policy for rural and urban body elections in August.
This decision comes as concerns grow about the potential effects of delimitation on southern states, including Telangana. With the delimitation freeze set to end in 2026, there is anxiety over a potential reduction in the Lok Sabha seats for southern states, which have successfully managed population growth. The states that enforced the two-child policy have also raised concerns about receiving a smaller share of central funds, as population size often influences fund allocations.
