HYDERABAD: Transport and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Saturday asserted that the state government would go ahead with local body elections only after implementing 42% reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) and appealed to citizens not to create any hindrance.
“Do not deny the rightful share of the weaker sections. Just as no one opposed the 10% quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), there is no reason to object to 42% reservations for BCs,” he said while speaking to the media.
Prabhakar stressed that the quota for BCs would not affect the constitutionally mandated reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). He explained that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had taken a “historic decision” to conduct a caste survey, following which a sub-committee and the Cabinet recommended enhancing BC reservations.
“The Bill was debated and passed unanimously in both Houses of the Legislature and later forwarded to the Governor, who sent it to the President,” Prabhakar said.
Citing a recent judgment in Tamil Nadu, he pointed out that states are permitted to implement reservation proposals even if they are pending with the Governor or the President. “Accordingly, we have issued GO No 9 to implement 42% reservations,” he added.
The minister noted that Tamil Nadu had already been implementing over 60% reservations and said Telangana was equally committed to ensuring social justice. “As a representative of the weaker sections, I urge society not to block what rightfully belongs to us. Protecting these reservations is the collective responsibility of Telangana society,” he remarked.
Taking a swipe at the BRS, Ponnam said the previous government had failed to deliver on its promises of double-bedroom houses and three acres of land to the poor. “We fought for water, funds, and jobs. But the BRS leadership turned Telangana into a personal fiefdom. Now, they should not stand in the way of justice to BCs,” he said.