Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday asked whether Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will ever have a party president or Chief Minister belonging to Backward Classes.
Addressing an all party meeting organised by BC Welfare Association here on Thursday, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress party alone was committed for social justice and while pointing towards former MP V. Hanumantha Rao, who was present in the meeting, he said that the Congress party had many BC leaders at its State Presidents. However, this could not be expected in TRS. He alleged that BCs have very poor representation in State cabinet and the BC ministers and other leaders were not getting deserved respect and importance in the TRS. Alleging that the TRS Government was not serious towards the welfare of Backward Classes in the State, he assured that the Congress party would support the agitation, both inside and outside Assembly, seeking justice for the BC communities.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had failed to fulfil any of the major promises which he made with BC communities. He said that the TRS Govt had promised to spend Rs. 25,000 crore in five years. However, the overall allocations for BC welfare in the last five budgets did not exceed Rs. 7,000 crore. He said that overall budget spending of TRS Government was nearly Rs. 6.70 lakh crore. In addition, the government borrowed huge loans of over Rs. 2 lakh crore. However, the TRS Government did not allocate the promised Rs. 25,000 crore for the welfare of BCs in the last four years.
The TPCC chief also slammed the KCR Government for delaying the release of funds meant towards Fee Reimbursement for BC students. He said two GOs pertaining to Budget Release Orders were issues on April 30 this year. Even after two months, the government is yet to release the amount. He said lakhs of BC students, who completed their studies, were unable to get their certificates from colleges due to Fee Reimbursement dues. Consequently, they are unable to apply for jobs. “This is a very issue and the situation has been turning alarming. A serious agitation is needed to pressurise the TRS Government to release the pending Fee Reimbursement dues,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy slammed the Chief Minister for not honouring the promise of introducing the BC Sub-Plan. He said that assurance to bring BC Sub-Plan was given by the Chief Minister on the floor of Legislative Assembly. But KCR conveniently forgot the promise after the Assembly session.
The TPCC president during the party’s Praja Chaitanya Bus Yatra programme, the Congress leaders visited the families of cotton farmers in Sangareddy and Bhupalpally wh committed suicide to extend some help. He said a majority of nearly 4,000 farmers who committed suicide belonged to BC communities. But, he said, none of the families got any assistance from the government and the authorities or even the ruling TRS leaders did not even meet the family members to convey their condolences. Similarly, he said a BC student of Osmania University, Murali Mudiraj, committed suicide as he was disappointed with TRS regime for not providing a job. Instead of meeting the family members as belonged to KCR’s Gajwel constituency, TRS Government implicated those persons in false cases who met Murali’s family to convey their sympathies.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also questioned KCR’s silence over enhancement of quota in jobs and education for BC communities. He said when the government brought a bill to enhance quota from 4% to 12% for Muslims under BC-E, the Congress party supported the move. But it also demanded that quota for BCs under A, B, C and D categories should also be increased in proportionate to their population. However, he said KCR remained non-committal on the issue.
The TPCC chief also demanded that reservation of seats for BCs in forthcoming Panchayat Raj elections should be done in proportionate to their population. He said that the present reservation policy was erratic and it would deny BCs their due share in local bodies.
The all-party meeting was also addressed by BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya, BC Welfare Association national president and MLA R. Krishnaiah, ex-MP V. Hanumantha Rao and other senior leaders of various political parties. (INN)