CM KCR writes to Centre to raise Muslim quota

The Telangana government has written to the Centre again on the need to enhance reservations for Muslims and Scheduled Tribes in the state.

The state government had earlier sent two Bills, passed in the Assembly in April 2017, to the Centre seeking the President’s approval and inclusion in Schedule IX of the Constitution. The Bills enhanced the quota for Muslims from the current 4% to 12% and for Scheduled Tribes from 6% to 10% in the state.

But the department of personnel and training (DoPT) shot back a letter to the state government saying that the decision was in violation of the Supreme Court order of 1992 in which the overall quota was capped at 50%. In its letter, the DoPT said that the apex court, in the Indra Sawhney case of 1992, had stated that “clause (4) of Article 16 of the Constitution speaks of adequate representation and not proportionate representation.”

Following this, the Telangana government consulted legal luminaries and experts in the subject of reservations and prepared a draft report to be submitted to the Centre. Recently, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao



reviewed this draft report, which was also approved by the law department, after which it was sent to the Centre.

“The state government informed the DoPT that Telangana is a fit case where the 50% cap on reservations can be exceeded. The state government quoted a case in which the Supreme Court had observed that the 50% quota can be exceeded only in extraordinary situations, and while doing so, extreme caution has to be exercised and a special case made out,” a senior official said.

In its clarification, the state government explained that population of STs increased from over 7% in the united Andhra Pradesh to 9.08% in Telangana. Even the percentage of Muslims went up from 9.56% to 12.68% after bifurcation.

The state government quoted from the reports of the BS Ramulu-headed BC Commission, G Sudhir Commission and Chellappa Commission and pointed out that Muslims were lagging behind the state average in literacy and employment. Also, over 80% of Muslims in Telangana have been categorised as backward by various commissions.