HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao said castes were alive and casteism continued in the country and why the BJP-led NDA government was treating it as a ‘sensitive’ issue, while taking up caste-based census. While governments were issuing caste certificates, why were they hesitating to take up caste-based census, he pointed out. “If caste-based census is carried out, it would pave the way for proportionate representation of certain castes in all fields,” he explained. The TRS government passed a resolution in the Assembly and sent it to the Central government on Scheduled Castes categorisation, he said.
The Scheduled Tribes population in Telangana increased and the state government decided to enhance the 12 per cent reservation, he said. “On the lines of Tamil Nadu, we will implement reservations and will face any legal problems in future,” he said. Addressing a press conference here at Telangana Bhavan on Saturday night, Chandrashekar Rao said the state government reminded around 50 times on ST reservations.
He demanded that the Central government set up tribunals with the sharing of river Krishna and Godavari waters. “There is a limit for patience as the Central government wasted seven years in this regard. Delay in water sharing adversely affected the planning of the newly set up Telangana state. If the Central government fails to respond on water sharing issues, we will take up agitation along with people of other states,” he warned.
