Telangana to issue GO on 10% quota for STs: KCR

Under the Bill, quota for STs will be increased to 10% from the existing 6%

Slamming the BJP-led Centre for not clearing the Scheduled Tribes Reservation Bill passed by the Telangana Assembly five years ago, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday said a government order (GO) implementing 10 per cent quota in the state for tribals would be issued soon.

Speaking at a public meeting titled 'Adivasi-Banjara Atmiya Sabha' here, Rao said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should either respect the Telangana government’s proposed GO or "use it as a rope to hang".

Both the houses of Telangana Legislature in April 2017 passed a Bill which increases the reservations for Scheduled Tribes and backward sections among the Muslim community in government jobs and educational institutions.

Also Read | Religious fanaticism on upsurge, dangerous to country: Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao

Under the Bill, quota for STs will be increased to 10 per cent from the existing 6 per cent. He said the Bill has been lying with the Centre for the President's assent over the past five years for no reason.

"We are tired of requesting the Centre for the reservations. Now within one week, we will issue a GO to implement 10 per cent reservation to STs in the state. I am requesting Narendra Modi, would you respect our GO or make that GO as a rope to hang," Rao, who is also known as KCR, said. According to him, there is no ceiling of reservation in the Constitution and neighbouring Tamil Nadu has been implementing quotas up to 69 per cent.

"I am asking the Prime Minister of India, I am asking the (Union) Home Minister who came here (for Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations) and indulged in divisive politics, why are you obstructing that Bill. Why are you stopping it?" he questioned.

Requesting the people not to fall pray to communal politics, KCR said his government would soon implement 'Girijana Bandhu' on the lines of 'Dalit Bandhu'. He said tribal families who do not have land or sources of income would be given Rs 10 lakh to start any business and make a living out of it.

Earlier, KCR inaugurated Adivasi Bhavan and Sevalal Banjara Bhavan. He also unveiled the statue of Kumaram Bheem, a revolutionary leader of Hyderabad state in British India.