10% Reservation For Tribals If Voted To Power: BJP's Kishan Reddy

Union Minister for Tourism and BJP Telangana president G Kishan Reddy today promised to provide 10% reservations for the tribals of the State if the party was voted into power, in proportion to their population.

He said that the reservations would be implemented in the local body elections, and in education and employment opportunities.

On Wednesday, the union minister had a darsanam of the goddesses Sammakka and Saralamma at Medaram in Mulugu district. He said that he was bowing to the feet of Sammakka and Saralamma, and that he had prayed that the blessings of the goddesses, who he said were incarnations of Adiparasakthi, should rest on the people of Telangana.

Speaking with the media later, Reddy elaborated on the initiatives taken up by the Centre for the welfare of the tribals.

He said that a tribal central university for Telangana had been set up in the district, and that a sum of Rs 900 crore had been allocated in the first phase for its construction.

He also said that the university had been named after Sammakka and Saralamma, and that on behalf of the tribal community and on behalf of the people of Telangana he was thanking the Prime Minister for that.

He said that the Modi-led union government was working sincerely to preserve the culture and traditions of the tribals, and to make the whole of India remember the sacrifices of the tribal heroes. He announced that a tribal memorial museum would be constructed with union government funds of Rs 25 crore in Hyderabad, and that a tribal research institute was ready to be started with central funds of Rs 6.5 crore. He also recalled that the Prime Minister had taken a special initiative to bring UNESCO recognition to the Rudreswara temple (Ramappa temple) in Mulugu district.

MLA Etala Rajender, and former MPs Garikapati Mohan Rao, Ravindra Naik and Ramesh Rathore were also present on the occasion.