Telangana to bring new reservation act to include Muslims, raise ST quota

CM KCR says move is necessitated due to change in social composition of population post bifurcation

Telangana government on Wednesday decided to extend the reservations to Muslim population on the basis of their socio-economic backwardness besides raising the existing quota of the scheduled tribes (STs) to 12% from the present 7.5% in line with the local population. 

Announcing the decision after holding a cabinet meeting on the subject in the evening, chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao said the cabinet would once again meet on April 15 to determine the exact percentage of reservations for Muslims while keeping in mind the 12% quota promised during the elections.

On April 16, 2017 the  government will convene a special session of the state legislative assembly to pass the new Telangana Reservations Act with additional quota  for Muslims(Some of the subgroups of Muslims already enjoy 4% reservations under BC-E category)  and for the STs. 

The total percentage of reservations will reach 62% if the state government decides to provide full 12% reservations each to Muslims and STs as promised in the election manifesto by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS).

The chief minister said he was hopeful that the Centre would back his government's move and help get the Presidential ascent for the new Act.

"Social composition of our population has drastically changed after the state bifurcation because 90% of people living in Telangana belong to Scheduled Castes(SCs), Backward Castes(BCs), STs and Muslim minorities. Therefore, keeping the total reservations at 50% in education and employment has no meaning as far as the ground realities of the population composition is concerned. When Tamil Nadu state has been implementing 69% reservations in government jobs and education for the past 32 years, why the same is not possible in Telangana," Rao asserted while defending his government's move on raising the reservations.

In response to a question on whether the Centre would support this move, more particularly with regard to his decision on Muslim reservations, chief minister Rao said it was high time  the Centre even get ready to relinquish its powers on these matters and let the states decide what they want. 

On the question of Muslim quota, Rao maintained that what his government plans to do was not a new thing. "Both Telangana and AP already have 4% reservations for certain sub groups of Muslims under BC-E category. Moreover, we are offering additional reservations to Muslims not on the basis of religion but based on the sociopolitical and economic backward ness of people belong to this minority community," he added.

Taking serious objection to the 50% criteria for reservations, chief minister KCR said the Indian Constitution has nowhere stated that the reservations should not cross 50% mark , which was the reason why several states in India already provide reservations suitable to the composition of their population. "BJP government in Rajasthan state has already amended the act taking the total reservations to 59% in order to accommodate Jats and Gujjars while  the same is pending before the Centre. There can not be different rules to different states," he said.

The chief minister further stated that the present quantum of reservations for BCs and SCs will also be increased in future.