Hyderabad: Jeevan Reddy demands 12% quota for STs

Hyderabad: Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy on Tuesday demanded that the government provide 12 per cent reservations to the Scheduled Tribes people as per their ratio in the State's population.

Addressing the media, he said Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao must take steps to provide 12 per cent reservations to the STs as they have a constitutional right.

The courts' decision would not come in the way of providing reservations to the STs. The State government can make a law in this regard he said.

The MLC said that the cap of 50 per cent on the reservations would not arise under the special circumstances. The Maharashtra High Court upheld 12 per cent reservations to Marathas considering the special circumstances though the total reservations reached to 62 per cent. He said even Supreme Court did not intervene in the matter.

Jeevan Reddy said the STs in the State have been provided with six per cent reservations in the combined Andhra Pradesh as per the ratio in the State population at that time.

After division of the State the STs form about 12 per cent of total population and they should be given reservations as per their population.

He said that as per the Constitution, the SCs and STs should be provided with reservations in the States as per their ratio in the population, he said.