Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha has demanded the Congress government in Telangana to implement the Kamareddy Declaration, which promised many sops for the Backward Classes.
She was talking to the media after submitting a caste survey report to Busani Venkateswara Rao, Chairman of the Dedicated BC Commission on Monday.
The state government early this month constituted the Dedicated Commission or the enumeration of Backward Classes to determine reservations in local bodies.
The Member of the Telangana Legislative Council said the government should implement the Karmareddy Declaration as it is.
The Declaration made during the Assembly elections last year had promised the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule BC sub-plan with statutory status apart from spending Rs 1 lakh crore in 5 years for BC welfare and creating a Most Backward Classes (MBC) Welfare department, including corporations for all the BC castes for their overall development.
The Backward Classes (BC) Declaration also promised to increase the BC reservations in local bodies to 42 per cent from the present 23 per cent within six months of assuming power. The Congress party had also promised 42 per cent reservation for BCs in government civil construction and maintenance contracts.
Kavitha, along with representatives from Telangana Jagruthi and the United Phule Front, submitted a detailed report on the caste survey to the BC Commission.
The Telangana Jagruthi report has been prepared following an in-depth study. It includes 20 key demands for consideration by the Commission.
The BRS leader said the BJP has given an affidavit in the Supreme Court that it will not conduct the caste census. She said the BJP made it clear on many occasions that it is against caste census. “Opposing BCs, SCs and STs is in the DNA of the BJP government,” she said and called on all BCs to condemn the BJP’s stand.
Claiming that the BRS government took many measures for the welfare of BCs, she said the Congress government constituted a dedicated commission only after protest by the BRS.
She said the government has still not provided funds and staff to the Commission but was pressuring it to give its report immediately. She demanded that the Commission should act independently.
She said the Commission’s report should not be confined to political reservation but should cover other issues.
Kavitha said the government should tell people whether the caste survey will stand the legal scrutiny in the court. The Congress government should clear the doubts of BCs, she added.
The MLC said a movement will be launched on the demands for BCs like the movement undertaken for women’s reservation.
She said due justice was not delivered to BCs and they were not given the rights promised in the Constitution. She claimed that after regional parties came to power, social and economic justice was done to BCs.
