HYDERABAD: Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and discussed several issues of importance to the State that are pending approval from the Centre.
Among the issues he discussed in an hour-long one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister in New Delhi were Presidential assent for the BC, SC, ST reservation Bill, the Union government’s approval for new zonal system and the division of the High Court between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Rao reiterated that formation of Telangana state will not be complete if new zonal system is not in place and the High Court is not bifurcated.
This is the second time Rao has called on Modi in the last two months. The State Assembly had passed the draft reservation bill, favouring more reservations to BCs, SCs and STs. The quota hike was proposed to provide 12 percent reservations to Muslims under BC (E) category, and is pending President’s nod. According to an official release issued here on Saturday, Rao dwelt at length on 11 key issues pertaining to the state with the PM.
He informed Modi on how post- bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana’s demographics had changed with the State’s percentage of people from the weaker sections, increasing compared to the situation in united Andhra Pradesh.
For instance, in united AP, the ST population was 7.11 pc, while in Telangana it is 9.08 pc. Similarly, the current Muslim population is 12.68 percent, against 9.56 percent in united AP. The BC communities accounted for more than 50 percent of Telangana’s population which necessitates increase in reservations in the State, the Chief Minister said.