Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Saturday and sought the President’s assent for a bill enhancing the quantum of reservation in educational institutions and government jobs for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes.
According to a statement from the chief minister’s office, Rao discussed 11 issues and submitted letters pertaining to them during the hour-long meeting with Modi.
KCR, as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief is popularly known, told the Prime Minister that the need to increase the percentage of reservation arose as the proportion of the population of these sections increased after the formation of Telangana state.
Under the bill passed by the state legislature, quota for STs was increased to 10 per cent from the existing 6 per cent, while that for BC-E category (the backward sections among the Muslim community) increased to 12 per cent from 4 per cent. The total reservation in the state, consequently, will go up to 62 per cent from the existing 50 per cent.
KCR brought to Modi's notice that while capping the total quantum of reservations at 50 per cent, the Supreme Court had clarified that if it should exceed the percentage, the state shall make out a case showing compelling circumstances for the move. He pointed out that Tamil Nadu was providing 69% reservation in the state.
The bill passed by the state legislature last year was sent to the ministry of home affairs for the President’s assent.
The TRS chief also sought the Centre’s approval for a new zonal system in Telangana pertaining to the government employment in the state. He called for immediate steps to amend the Presidential Order of 1975 to facilitate implementation of the new zonal system created keeping in mind the requirements of the new state.
As the issue of a separate high court is pending since the creation of Telangana in 2014, KCR urged the PM to expedite the process. He sought immediate steps for establishing a high court in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh so that the HC at Hyderabad exclusively caters to the needs of Telangana.
KCR reiterated the demand for central grant of Rs 20,000 crore for Kaleshwaram Project being built on the Godavari River. He said on completion, it would be the lifeline of Telangana as it was designed to irrigate 18 lakh acres. The total cost of the project if Rs 80,000 crore.
Early completion of pending railway projects, transfer of defence land in Secunderabad for construction of new secretariat building, funds for development of backward areas, establishment of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), sanctioning Indian Institute of Information Technology at Karimnagar, and funds to develop the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) in Hyderabad as per the already approved scheme were the other key issues taken up by KCR.
Comments
0 comment