Hyderabad: Congress MP & former TPCC President Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy has cautioned the Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities against the ‘fake assurances’ being given by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on enhancing their quota in job and education from the present six per cent to 10 per cent.
Further, he said KCR’s announcement of the ‘Girijan Bandhu’ scheme to give Rs 10 lakh assistance to deserving ST families was 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 Chief Minister in the last eight years suggesting that the State Government issue a GO to enhance the ST quota in jobs and education from the present six per cent to 10 per cent.
I also raised the issue in Parliament several times and also made a representation to President of India Draupadi Murmu on the 22nd of August this year.
However, neither CM KCR reacted to my suggestion nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to the demand for a hike in ST quota. Now, in view of changing political circumstances, KCR had 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 plays to lure voters in a by-election,” Uttam said in a media statement on Sunday.
Uttam said if CM KCR was sincere towards STs, he should issue the GO immediately without waiting for a day. “Why does he need to wait for a week to issue a simple GO? It can be done within an hour if the Chief Minister is serious. However, KCR timed the announcement in such a way that he could delay it further on the pretext of Model Code of Conduct for Munugode by-polls,” he said.
“As against the promise of giving Rs. 10 lakh assistance to nearly 17 lakh poor Dalit families in Telangana under the ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme, KCR Govt did not help even 5,000 families.
TRS Govt will similarly treat the STs. A few hundred families, especially of those TRS workers, would be picked as beneficiaries under the proposed ‘Girijan Bandhu’ scheme and hype would be created as if all ST families got Rs 10 lakh each.
This is just another mirage created by KCR. During the Huzurabad by-elections, KCR cheated people in the name of ‘Dalit Bandhu’ and in Munugode by-polls he wants to cheat in the name of ‘Girijan Bandhu’,” he alleged.
Uttam Kumar Reddy asked CM KCR to specify when the poor ST families would be given the promised three acres of land. Further, he said the TRS Govt must give a deadline for the creation of infrastructure for the Lambada Tandas converted into new gram panchayats.
