Telangana CM KCR demands increase in SC quota
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday demanded that the Centre increase the percentage of reservations for Scheduled Castes in tune with their growing population in the country and conduct a caste census
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday demanded that the Centre increase the percentage of reservations for Scheduled Castes in tune with their growing population in the country and conduct a caste census.
“The Centre has fixed a 15 per cent reservation for the SCs in education and employment at the national level as well as in the states. Over the years, the population of SCs has gone up considerably all over the country. Therefore, the Centre should also consider increasing the quota of the SCs,” KCR, as the chief minister is known, said while replying to a short discussion on his government’s flagship programme, Dalit Bandhu, in the state assembly.
He said a Comprehensive Household Survey conducted in Telangana six years ago had revealed that there were 10.03 million families in the state, of which 1.82 million families belong to the Scheduled Castes, accounting for 17.53% of the total families.
At least nine out of 33 districts in the state have more than 20% SC population. Mancherial district has the highest Dalit population of 25.64%, while Hyderabad has the lowest percentage of Dalit population, 11.71%. The average population of SCs in the state, thus, stands at 17.53%, he said.
“Since the figures were six years old, the Dalit population in the state might have gone up substantially. Therefore, there is a need to increase the reservations for SCs in tune with the increase in their population,” KCR said.
The chief minister also demanded that the Centre take up enumeration of castes while taking up the nation-wide census. “I don’t understand why the Centre is refusing to take up the enumeration of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the country. It even submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court in this regard,” he pointed out.
He announced that the state assembly would pass a resolution demanding that the Centre take up caste-based Census, so that justice could be done to all the backward classes. “We shall send the resolution to the Centre for necessary action,” he said.
The chief minister explained in detail about the Dalit Bandhu scheme, whose pilot project was launched in Huzurabad assembly constituency in Karimnagar district on August 16. Under the scheme, each eligible Dalit family would be provided with a financial assistance of ₹10 lakh through direct benefit transfer, so that it would help the beneficiary to take up any business of their choice.
Claiming that it was the first of its kind scheme for empowerment of Dalits in the country, KCR said though successive governments at the Centre and the state had taken up programmes for the uplift of Dalits, there was no significant improvement in their condition.
“Even after 75 years of Independence, Dalits continue to face discrimination and lack empowerment and financial independence. We have made a humble beginning by taking up Dalit Bandhu scheme,” he said.
Stating that his government would implement the Dalit Bandhu scheme with more vigour if the Centre comes forward to help the state, KCR said in the coming years, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi might play a role at the Centre.
“We might even be part of the government at the Centre to implement our agenda. Anything might happen in politics,” he said.
The chief minister announced that in the next year’s annual budget, his government would allocate ₹20,000 crore for Dalit Bandhu scheme. “We shall provide financial assistance to an average of 2,000 Dalit families in each constituency. This is a constant exercise till all the Dalit families are covered under the scheme,” he added.