42% BC quota: Cabinet to okay draft Bill next week
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is likely to convene a Cabinet meeting on March 6 to approve draft legislations on implementing 42 per cent reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) and provide legal sanctity to the Scheduled Castes (SC) sub-categorisation for introduction in the Legislative Assembly, official sources said here on Saturday.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is likely to convene a Cabinet meeting on March 6 to approve draft legislations on implementing 42 per cent reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) and provide legal sanctity to the Scheduled Castes (SC) sub-categorisation for introduction in the Legislative Assembly, official sources said here on Saturday.
The state government is also planning to convene a special session of the Legislative Assembly in the second week of this month to facilitate introduction and passage of the BC reservations bill and the SC sub-categorisation Bill.
It may be recalled that Revanth Reddy had convened a special session of the Assembly on February 4 to approve resolutions on the caste census and SC sub-categorisation undertaken by the Congress government. During the session, he had announced that the government would pass legislation to provide legal sanctity to the caste census and SC sub-categorisation to extend reservations to BCs and SC sub-castes in education and employment. Additionally, he promised a 42 per cent quota for BCs in local bodies.
Following this, officials from the BC welfare and SC welfare departments initiated the process of drafting legislations. Official sources said that these draft legislations will be discussed and approved in the upcoming cabinet meeting.
Once the BC reservations bill is passed in the Assembly, the Chief Minister will lead an all-party delegation to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging for the passage of a Constitutional Amendment Act in Parliament. The aim is to include Telangana's 42 per cent BC reservations Act in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, thereby shielding it from judicial review. If the legislation is included in the Ninth Schedule, it cannot be contested in any court.
All ministers, Congress MLAs, MLCs, and MPs will accompany the Chief Minister to Delhi to exert pressure on the Centre for inclusion of the 42 per cent BC quota in the Ninth Schedule.
Meanwhile, Reddy will be writing to the heads of all political parties in Telangana, inviting them to be part of the delegation.
The delegation will also meet Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, urging them to raise the issue in Parliament during the Budget session.
