Hyderabad: Telangana Legislative Assembly today passed the State Reservation Act 2017, paving the way for an increase in the reservation quota of the backward sections of the Muslim community to 12 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes (ST) to 10 per cent in higher education institutes and government services.
The bill was discussed and passed at a special session of the state assembly held on Sunday, and it was supported by the entire House barring the five members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who were suspended for disrupting the proceedings.
With this the total reservations in Telangana will go up to 62 per cent; Backward classes have 25 per cent and Scheduled castes have 15 per cent reservations.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao moved the Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Reservation Bill 2017, seeking the support of the opposition for a constructive move. However, the proceedings were disrupted by the vociferous protests by BJP members. They also held a protest outside the assembly, when, led by floor leader G Kishan Reddy, they walked to the assembly from the Dr BR Ambedkar statue at the Tank Bund as a mark of protest.
As soon as the special session began at 11am, the chief minister moved the bill seeking to increase the quota for backward sections of Muslims from 4 to 12 per cent and for the scheduled castes from 6 to 10 per cent.
After the passage of the bill in the assembly it was taken up for discussion in the state Legislative Council where it was expected to be passed unanimously. Now the bill will be sent to the state governor for his assent and then to the Centre for its approval.
Replying to the debate on the bill, the chief minister assured the House that if the Centre does not approve it, the state government will knock on the doors of the Supreme Court. He cautioned the Centre against applying different standards to different states.
“Tamil Nadu is implementing 69 per cent reservations for over two decades. Five to six other states were giving more than 50 per cent reservations. They how can you deny this to Telangana?” he asked.
Chief Minister KCR said that recently Rajasthan decided to increase quotas to 68 per cent to meet the demand of Gujjars.
Taking a stand, KCR said he will not beg the Center but will fight to get the reservation quota included in the ninth schedule of the constitution on the lines of protection given to Tamil Nadu’s 69 per cent reservations.
Putting up a strong defence of reservation for Muslims, Rao asked, “Why can’t we give them reservation? Why should they be denied reservations just because they are Muslims? What sin they have committed? Are they not citizens of this country? Are they not paying taxes?” he asked. If some political parties oppose reservations to Muslims in the name of religion and communal bias, it will not be correct.
KCR underlined the fact that India had the largest Muslim population in the world and that many Islamic countries do not have such a large Muslim population.
As the BJP members continued to disrupt the proceedings by shouting slogans and tried to stall the House, Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary suspended them after a resolution was moved by the legislative affairs minister T Harish Rao and they were removed.
Those suspended include state BJP President K Lakshman and floor leader G Kishan Reddy. Earlier, speaking in the House, Reddy called the bill unconstitutional and said that the matter related to the existing 4 per cent reservations was pending before the Supreme Court. He claimed that the BJP was opposed to religion-based reservations. He also objected to the state government clubbing Muslim reservation with the scheduled castes.
Ahmad Pasha Quadri (AIMIM) demanded the state government take effective measures to protect the existing 4 per cent reservations in the state facing legal challenge in the Supreme Court. He demanded that for the new quota a separate Category (F) should be created.
But the chief minister assured that there will not be any threat to the present 4 per cent quota for the backward Muslims.
Chief minister strongly refuted the allegations of the BJP that his government was giving religion-based reservation and that it will be an injustice to the backward classes.
“We are giving it purely on the basis of socio economic backwardness and not on the basis of religion or caste as some parties were falsely claiming”, KCR said.
He urged the opposition parties to desist from false and misleading propaganda and make positive suggestions. “We are doing what we had promised categorically in the election manifesto of Telangana Rashtra Samiti”, he said.
The party had promised 12 per cent reservation each for the backward sections of Muslims and the scheduled tribes on the basis of their population in the state after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
He also rejected the opposition criticism that this increase will be at the cost of the other backward classes and assured the BCs that their quota will also be increased from the present 25 per cent. The state government has asked the Backward Classes Commission to go in to the issue and submit its report in six months.
Similarly, the chief minister also announced that the quota of the scheduled castes will be increased by 1 per cent more as their population in the state stands at 16.3 per cent. A new Scheduled Castes Commission will be constituted soon, he said.
Pointing out that the state’s 90 per cent population comprised of the BCs, SCs, STs and minorities, KCR said that the state definitely needs more than 50 per cent reservations, and other states have it. He announced that his party will raise this issue in Parliament and before Niti Ayog commission, and a debate will start and a consensus will be evolved.
Earlier, the Congress deputy floor leader T Jeevan Reddy, participating in the debate, welcomed the increase in the quota for Muslims and reminded the House that it was the Congress government that had introduced the 4 per cent reservations in the past. But he wondered why the state government was increasing this quota to 12 per cent when the BC commission had recommended only 10 per cent.
He demanded a further increase in the quota for both the backward classes and the scheduled castes. “Under the constitution the reservation for STs can be increased in accordance with the increase in their population”.
On the chief minister’s statement that he will get the Center to include the state quota in the ninth schedule of the constitution, he wondered if the Supreme Court was authorised to make such a decision for the Union government.
