Telangana may enforce hiked SC, ST quota without waiting for Centre's nod
Government is trying to utilise Constitutional provisions which allow states to increase reservations for SCs and STs on their own.
Hyderabad: The state government is examining ways to implement the increased reservations for SCs and STs in education and employment without waiting for the Centre’s consent.
The government had passed the TS Reservation Act last month to increase the quota for STs from six to 10 per cent and for Muslims from 4 to 12 per cent.
Though Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had announced that the government wanted to increase the quota for SCs from the existing 15 per cent, it was not included in the legislation.
The overall quota is now at 62 per cent, up from 50 per cent previously, following the increase in reservations for STs and Muslims. The state government has sent the Act for the Centre’s assent as the overall quota has crossed the 50 per cent cap set by the Supreme Court.
The Centre has not moved on the legislation even after a month. With this, the state government is exploring options on bringing the enhanced quotas into force without waiting for the Centre’s consent. On the increased quota for Muslims, however, the state government has to wait for the Centre’s nod as it cannot carry it off on its own.
The government is trying to utilise Constitutional provisions which allow states to increase reservations for SCs and STs on their own, based on the population of the communities.
In 1986, the then AP government had increa-sed quotas for SCs and STs based on their population without bringing any legislation. Tamil Nadu too has increased quotas for BCs, SCs and STs on its own.
A team of government officials that had been dispatched to study how the Tamil Nadu government could increase SC and ST quotas without securing the Centre’s nod has reported that it had done so by bringing out government orders.
“The GO copies were submitted to the state government. The TS government is seriously considering bringing similar GOs to increase reservations for SCs and STs as per their population,” said an official in the social welfare department.
According to the 2011 Census, the SC population in the state is 15 per cent. The TS Intensive Household Survey conducted in August 2014 puts the figure at 18 per cent.
The government has to take a call on which on survey of it will follow to hike the reservations. “There are chances of increasing the reservations for SCs by 1 to 3 per cent from the present 15 per cent,” the official said.