Rajya Sabha member R. Krishnaiah (centre) at the BC bodies’ meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement
hyderabad
President of the National Backward Classes’ Welfare Association and Rajya Sabha member from YSR Congress Party R. Krishnaiah has demanded that the Centre make an announcement on taking up caste census before the release of Parliament election schedule.
Speaking at a meeting organised on Saturday by BC bodies to press for caste census, Mr. Krishnaiah said that this was required to find the exact population of the Backward Class communities in the country. They would take up a ‘Chalo Delhi’ protest on February 5 and 6 demanding introduction of the BC reservation Bill in Parliament, taking up caste census, Bill for reservation to BC employees in promotions and allocation of ₹2 lakh crore for BC development in the Union Budget.
Mr. Krishnaiah said that BC activists from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other States were expected to participate in the Chalo Delhi protest. He stated that BC communities would support parties that would promise taking up caste census and introduce BC the reservation Bill.
Alleging that the governments at the Centre had been doing injustice to BC communities for the last 76 years by denying them constitutional rights on the lines of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Mr. Krishnaiah said if a BC Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) was not able to bring the BC Bill, no other PM could do it. It was unfortunate that even a separate ministry, which was agreed upon by the PM, was not created so far.
Mr. Krishnaiah stated that BC bodies had staged protests near Parliament 102 times over the last 30 years, and met and represented the issues to the Prime Minister 66 times. Of the 18 demands, only four were agreed upon and two of them were being implemented. While constitutional-backing to the BC Commission and OBC reservation in education and employment were being provided, a separate ministry for BC communities and fee reimbursement/scholarships to BC students were still not being implemented.
