Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has stated that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government does not need to learn lessons from the Opposition parties on the welfare and development of Backward Classes (BCs) as it is way ahead of other States in working for the communities.
Criticising the Congress, BJP and TDP on the issue of reservation to BCs in gram panchayat elections, Mr. Rao said it was with a view to provide higher quota to the communities the government had made a new Panchayat Raj legislation with total reservations of 61.19%. However, two Congress sarpanches moved the High Court against higher quota to BCs and the High Court had set aside the government move. When the government appealed in the Supreme Court, it upheld the lower court decision stating that total reservation could not cross 50%, he stated.
He asked people to examine the facts as the government had no other go but to hold the gram panchayat elections as directed by the High Court by January 10. The Chief Minister claimed that it was TRS government which had recognised BCs better than others by introducing quota for BCs in Agriculture Market Committees besides giving them chairpersons’ posts of 15 Corporation apart from a slew of measures such as increasing the BC residential schools from 19 to 261 and others.
Responding to a question on formation of his Cabinet, the Chief Minister said “there’s no hurry” and it would happen at an “appropriate time” as senior officials, including Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi and former chief secretary Rajiv Sharma and others were engaged in an exercise to clubbing together similar departments. Giving an example, he said departments of agriculture, cooperation, marketing and civil supplies should be under one minister.
Due representation
He also stated that all the 33 districts, 31 existing and two upcoming, would not have representation in the 18-member Cabinet including the Chief Minister and the unrepresented districts would be compensated with other Cabinet-rank posts. “We will also have Parliamentary Secretaries this time by moving court and adopting the legislations of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Karnataka, where such a system is in practice,” Mr. Rao said adding that it would be a training ground for new legislators.
The Chief Minister also ridiculed the Congress allegation of EVM tampering seeking to know whether same thing was done in three States where Congress had won.
“In case the EVMs were tampered here, how did four of our former ministers lose the election,” the Chief Minister shot back.