Uttam seeks President’s intervention for increase in ST quota in Telangana

Hyderabad/New Delhi: Congress MP and former TPCC President Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday sought the intervention of President Draupadi Murmu for enhancing the reservation for STs from 6 to 10 percent in Telangana.
Uttam after participating in national seminar on Tribal issues, organized on the occasion WorldTribal Day by All India Banjara organizations in the Constitution Club, New Delhi, accompanied by former MLC S. Ramulu Naik and other leaders, submitted a memorandum to the President on important issues concerning Scheduled Tribes in Telangana.
“On behalf of the 40-lakh tribal population in Telangana state (comprising Lambada, Gond, Koya, Erukala and other tribal communities), we sought your intervention to enhance the reservations for STs in Telangana from 6 to 10 percent,” Uttam urged the President.
He pointed out that in combined Andhra Pradesh, the representation for Scheduled Tribes was 6 percent (as per their percentage of the total population) in government jobs and educational institutions. When the then Andhra Pradesh state was divided into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014 the population of Scheduled Tribes in Telangana state was 10 per cent, the MP said.
“The reservations for STs in the separate state of Telangana should have been immediately enhanced to 10 percent in 2014 and from 2014 till now, both state and central governments have been assuring that the reservations for STs in Telangana would be enhanced upwards in the education and employment sectors from 6 percent to their percentage of the total population, he said.
In a very strange situation, the ruling TRS government in Telangana says that they have sent the proposal to the central government and the BJP government in the Centre says in Parliament they have not received any proposal, he said in the letter.
Requesting for President’s intervention in enhancing the reservations for tribals in Telangana from the present 6 to 10 per cent immediately, he said this is the constitutional right of tribals in Telangana and they are looking up to you in achieving their rightful reservations.
The supreme court laid down the 50 percent ceiling may not apply because the 10 percent EBC quota is now being implemented in the whole country over and above the 50 per cent ceiling,” Uttam said in his letter.
The Congress MP also sought the intervention of the President in resolving the Podu lands issues as lakhs of tribals in Telangana have been cultivating land in cleared forest areas for many decades.
They have been given rights by earlier governments but now under various pretexts, the Telangana government is using brutal police force to evict tribals from “Podu Bhoomulu” which they have been cultivating for many decades, he said requested the President to interve in helping the tribals of Telangana in the “Podu Bhoomulu” issue.”
Uttam informed the President that a few thousand Lambada Thandas and Tribal hamlets were converted into new gram panchayats by the TRS Government in Telangana but the government had not created any infrastructure for their new gram panchayats, he alleged.
These new gram panchayats (earlier Lambada Thandas and tribal hamlets) have no revenue sources and no new funds have been released for them by the state or central Governments. Therefore, the Congress MP requested the President to use her good offices to sanction funds by Central and State Governments for the creation of good infrastructure in these newly created gram panchayats, he added. (UNI)