This was announced by the Legislation Select Committee on the Hate Speech Bill

More than three months after the hate speech bill was referred to a select committee, the state Legislative Assembly on Monday announced the formation of a select committee.

The Telangana Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 2026 was introduced in the Assembly at the end of the 2026-2027 budget session. However, it was referred to a select committee as several members objected to some provisions which they said could lead to retaliatory action.

The committee will be headed by BC Social Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar as its chairman and 12 members from parties with representation in the legislature as its members. The members are: Balu Naik Nenavath, T, Lakshmi Kantha Rao, G. Madhusudhan Reddy, K. Rajesh Reddy, Kavvampalli Satyanarayana, Yeshaswini Mamidala, Danam Nagender, Kova Lakshmi, K. Manik Rao, Rama Rao Pawar, Ahmala and Kuna Abdullah Sam.

It has been asked to present its report to the House on or before the concluding session of the monsoon session of the Assembly.

Meanwhile, several joint committees of the Legislature as well as Assembly and Council committees were also constituted on Monday. The Joint Committees include one for Subordinate Legislation headed by Kadiyam Srihari, Equipment (Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy), Welfare of Scheduled Castes (Vedma Bhojju), Welfare of Scheduled Tribes (Payam Venkateswarlu), Welfare of Backward Classes (Makhansingh Red Rajdy Thakur) and Children (Nvathi Welfare of Red Rajdy Thakur) and Welfare of Scheduled Castes (Vedma Bhojju).

The Assembly committees included the Rules Committee headed by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Privileges and Petitions Committees headed by the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Committee on Government Guarantees (P. Sanjeeva Reddy) and Ethics Committee (Revuri Prakash Reddy).

Similar committees were also established for the Legislative Council.

Published – 06 Jul 2026 23:02 IST