In battleground Telangana, BRS, BJP, Congress find a common ground: 10% quota for tribals
Proposing a hike in ST reservation, leaders from BRS, BJP and Congress argue that in undivided Andhra Pradesh, ST population was 6%, which rose to 10% in Telangana state
Union minister G Kishan Reddy, while offering prayers at the Medaram temple of tribal goddesses Sammakka and Sarakka in Mulugu district on Wednesday, said that the BJP would try to ensure 10 per cent reservation for tribals if the party comes to power in Telangana. (Photo: X/@kishanreddybjp) With battlelines being drawn for the Telangana Assembly elections scheduled for November 30, state BJP president and Union minister G Kishan Reddy has said that the saffron party would try to ensure 10 per cent reservation for tribals if the party comes to power by clinching the polls.
Kishan Reddy, who is also an MP from Secunderabad, made this promise after offering prayers at the Medaram temple of tribal goddesses Sammakka and Sarakka in Mulugu district Wednesday. He was visiting Mulugu days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a Central Tribal University would be set up in Mulugu at a cost of Rs 900 crore.
అధికారంలోకి వస్తే గిరిజనులకు 10 శాతం రిజర్వేషన్లు స్థానిక సంస్థల ఎన్నికలు, విద్య, ఉపాధి అవకాశాల్లోనూ వర్తింపు.
ఇవాళ ములుగు జిల్లా మేడారంలో కొలువైన వనదేవతలు సమ్మక్క, సారలమ్మల దర్శనం చేసుకుని ప్రత్యేక పూజల్లో పాల్గొన్నాను. తెలంగాణకి గిరిజన కేంద్రీయ విశ్వవిద్యాలయాన్ని కేటాయించి,… pic.twitter.com/5Xbn9e0Cb5
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) October 11, 2023
More than a year ago, the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government led by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR had issued a notification for increasing the ST (Scheduled Tribes) quota from 6 per cent to 10 per cent in the state.
The Telangana Congress is also likely to make a similar pledge for tribals in its manifesto being readied.
The point however remains that increasing the ST quota would breach the current 50 per cent reservation ceiling for the SCs (Scheduled Castes), STs and OBCs (Other Backward Classes), set by the Supreme Court, and could not be officially implemented without possibly enacting a constitutional amendment. Any proposed hike in ST quota beyond this cap has to be thus approved by the Centre.
The leaders from the BRS, BJP and Congress parties say that in undivided Andhra Pradesh, the ST population was 6 per cent but following the state’s bifurcation it went up to 10 per cent in the separate Telangana state.
“Our promise to increase the ST quota is based on tribal population in Telangana which is around 10 per cent,” Kishan Reddy said on Thursday. He also claimed that till the Centre approves this proposal, there would be other ways of implementing it.
“The BJP is looking to win the tribal votes in the 11 ST Assembly constituencies in Telangana with this promise. The five ST constituencies in the erstwhile undivided Khammam district and three in Adilabad can be very crucial,” a BJP leader said. The Adilabad parliamentary seat is also reserved for ST and the BJP’s Soyam Bapu Rao had won from there in the May 2019 Lok Sabha election.
The key contenders in the Telangana poll fray are now looking at the Centre’s August 2021 go-ahead empowering the states to allocate quotas to communities based on their population. They are also arguing that the Supreme Court has also stated in its 50 per cent reservation cap order the states could increase quota under special circumstances.
On September 17 last year, KCR had made the announcement to hike the ST quota while speaking at Telangana Adivasi-Banjara Atmiya Sabha. He had then said that he was “tired of waiting” and would go ahead with implementing the 10 per cent quota for STs in educational institutions and state government jobs even without getting the Centre’s approval. However, the recruitment in government jobs under the enhanced ST quota has not been implemented so far.
Currently, Telangana is implementing 50 per cent quota in education and employment, including 25 per cent for BCs (Backward Classes), 15 per cent for SCs, 6 per cent for STs and 4 per cent for Muslims.
If the proposed increase in the ST quota to 10 per cent comes into effect, the total reservation in the state would go up to 54 per cent.
Senior Telangana Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir said that the Congress is in favour of hiking the ST quota.
In April 2017, the Telangana Assembly had passed the Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Bill, 2017, hiking the quotas for tribals from six to 10 per cent and for the Muslim community from four per cent to 12 per cent under the BC-E category. The Bill was referred to the Centre for clearance, where it has been pending.
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