Telangana government too may face reservation row

Hyderabad: While violence broke out over the Kapu reservations issue that has engulfed neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the Telangana state government is also sitting on a long list of demands for reservation. The TRS had promised 12 per cent quota each for Muslims and Scheduled Tribes during the 2014 general elections. Muslims now get 4 per cent quota and STs, 7.5 per cent. Except for setting up commissions to study the matter, the government has not made any progress in providing reservations.

Minority leaders from the Congress are planning to launch an agitation at Shadnagar, Mahbubnagar, where Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao first announced during the election campaign that the TRS would implement 12 per cent quota for minorities. “We are planning to sit on an indefinite hunger strike in Shadnagar. Twenty months have passed since he became CM but he has done nothing except setting up a commission in March last year. He said the commission would submit its report in six months. It’s nearly a year now but there is no trace of any report We can’t wait any longer,” said Mr Mohd Shabbir Ali, senior Congress leader and leader of Opposition in the TS Legislative Council.

It was during the tenure of Mr Shabbir Ali as minorities welfare minister in the YSR Cabinet that the 5 per cent quota for Muslims was provided in 2004. This was reduced to 4 per cent in 2006 after the High Court struck down the quota GO after the total reservations crossed the stipulated 50 per cent. Mr Rao’s promise of 12 per cent quota for Muslims and STs will take up overall quota to 74 per cent, which would not stand legal scrutiny. Mr Rao has not taken any action on his promise of bringing separate legislation along the lines of Karnataka seeking Constitutional amendment to overcome this limitation. In Tamil Nadu, the overall quota is 69 per cent.