Chief Minister Revanth Reddy today voiced his disappointment over what he described as the "unfair treatment of Telangana" in the selections for the Padma Awards.
Reddy was speaking after laying the foundation stone for the Skill Development Centre and Digital Resource Centre at Ambedkar University.
The CM criticized the Union government for failing to recognize the contributions of notable individuals including Gaddar, Chukka Ramaiah, Andesri, Gorati Venkanna and Jayadhir Tirumala Rao, whose names were recommended by the State government for the awards.
"It is disheartening for the people of Telangana that the State received none of the 139 awards announced by the Union government. We are deeply dismayed by the injustice faced by Telangana. My government will formally address this issue in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon," Reddy said.
The Chief Minister also criticized the Union government's education policies.
"The idea of privatizing universities is not acceptable. These institutions have given the country great personalities like P V Narasimha Rao and Jaipal Reddy. The universities need to be restructured instead," the CM said.
He also alleged that the Union government was conspiring to amend UGC regulations to strip the State governments of their authority over universities. If the Centre took control of universities, they would become platforms for venomous propaganda propagated by certain forces, he claimed.
"Changing UGC rules is a blatant attack on the Indian Constitution. It is also a cultural assault on States. Such actions by the Union government are highly condemnable, and will only lead to unnecessary controversies. If the Union government does not immediately withdraw its decision to amend the UGC regulations, we will not hesitate to stage protests," Reddy said.
"It is unfortunate that the situation has deteriorated to the extent that people are compelled to discuss the protection of the Constitution," he added.