Approval for 10% reservation for tribals is Centre's job, says Vinod

Hyderabad: Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar on Tuesday said that the responsibility of giving approval for the 10 per cent reservation for tribals in the State rests with the Central government.

Vinod Kumar said that as a responsible member of the Rajya Sabha, K Laxman should know the facts and speak, it was not appropriate for him to speak beyond the facts and mislead the people. Vinod Kumar stated that the Union Home Department was creating obstacles to the State government's determination to implement 10 per cent reservation for the tribals of the State and is showing non-existent excuses.

Vinod Kumar said that even though five years have passed since the resolution was passed in the State Assembly in 2017 to increase the reservation for the tribals of the State from 6 to 10 per cent on the basis of population, and the bill was sent to the Central Home Department for approval still there was no progress on this issue.

Vinod Kumar questioned why the Central government was not giving a green signal even though the State government has decided to increase the reservation. He said that the Union Home Ministry will have to give a green signal for that.

Vinod Kumar said that the State Tribal Welfare Minister Satyavati Rathod had written a letter to the Union Home Ministry last July to allow 10 per cent and Sitaram Naik as MP had mentioned it in Parliament. He recalled that Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra wrote a letter in response to the letter written by State Minister Satyavati Rathod. Vinod Kumar reminded that no decision can be taken on tribal reservations until the reservation of minorities is decided in the Supreme Court.