Welcoming the UPA government's decision of giving a 4.5% quota to the Muslim community in jobs and educational institutions, the Telugu Desam Party on Saturday demanded that Muslims not be included in the OBC quota.
Addressing the media at the NTR Trust Bhavan, party politburo members Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and Dadi Veerabhadra Rao said that the government must hike the OBC quota to 52%, and give the Muslim community a separate quota as well.
They ridiculed the UPA decision to give Muslims a quota from the OBC category as a sign of "bankruptcy" of the Congress-led government.
They alleged that the government ignored the reports of the Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Committee, which recommended a 105 separate quota for Muslims.
They said that it was unfortunate that the OBC quota had been slashed from 27% to 22.55 as result of the Muslim induction at a time when BC associations and political parties have been demanding a hike from 27% to 52% on the basis of the 2011 population.
The TDP leaders said that the Congress, both at the state level and the national level, has always denied justice to BC, socially, economically and politically.
They said that TDP founder N T Rama Rao, as a convenor of the National Front, and the then Prime Minister V P Singh, had provided a special budget for the development of BCs, but that it was cancelled when the Congress returned to power.
They said that the Centre and the state had remained silent and blind to the demand of BCs for a sub-plan budget allocation on the same lines as that of the SC/ST sub-plan allocations.
The TDP leaders alleged that the UPA government is treating backward class communities with a step-motherly treatment.
The TDP leaders said that a separate constitutional amendment may be taken up, if necessary, to provide Muslims a separate quota, and to increase the BC quota. (INN)
filed in:TDP, Reservations, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Muslim Reservations