Uttam dubs KCR's promises on ST quota hike, Girijan Bandhu as fake

Hyderabad: Congress MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy cautioned the Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities against the 'fake assurances' being given by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on enhancing their quota in job and education from the present six percent to 10 per cent.

Uttam termed KCR's announcement of the 'Girijan Bandhu' scheme to give Rs 10 lakh assistance to ST families as just another mirage. "Congress party has been demanding an increase in ST quota to 10 per cent since 2014. I made several representations to the CM in the last eight years suggesting the State government to issue a GO to enhance the ST quota in jobs and education to 10 per cent. I also raised the issue in Parliament several times and made a representation to President of India Draupadi Murmu on August 22, 2022. However, neither CM KCR nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi respond to the demand for a hike in ST quota.

Now, in view of changing political circumstances, KCR announced that he would issue a GO for enhancing the ST quota. But I seriously doubt his intentions. He will delay the GO till the issue of notification for Munugode by-elections and postpone it citing the Model Code of Conduct. This is a usual trick which KCR always play to lure voters in a by-election," said the Congress leader.

The Congress MP said that the ST community lost thousands of government jobs and lakhs of seats in government colleges in the last eight years due to delay in enhancing the quota. TRS government, especially CM KCR is responsible for this loss. How KCR proposes to compensate for this loss to the ST communities?" he asked

Uttam said that the BJP government was anti-Tribal and it would never approve a hike in ST quota. "The Modi government is trying hard to end existing reservations across India. It is boosting the privatisation of all sectors and PSUs only to end the present reservation system which is benefiting the poor SC, ST and BC communities. Therefore, it will be just a waste of time to expect the BJP government to respond positively to the proposals for the hike in quotas for STs, SCs and other communities," he said.

The Congress leader asked CM KCR to specify when the poor ST families would be given the promised three acres of land and added that the TRS government must give a deadline for the creation of infrastructure for the Lambada Tandas converted into new gram panchayats.