The Telangana government today issued a GO to the relevant authorities to implement a 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the state's government-run educational institutions and in government jobs.
The order, issued by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, follows the government's
January 21 announcement where Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had first announced the quota.
(The announcement, which caused quite a stir in the state, had prompted Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir to claim that the Chief Minister's promise to provide the EWS quota was
"another false promise".)
Speaking on the occasion, Kumar said that the quota would be implemented in the educational institutions of the state and in government jobs.
"The 103rd Amendment Act (2019) of the Constitution enables the implementation of reservations for the EWS groups in both private and government-aided higher educational institutions. It also allows the government to make reservations for the EWS in initial appointments in government jobs. The Telangana government has also decided to implement a 10% quota for the benefit of the EWS of the state. Under this quota, the beneficiaries will be able to secure admissions into the state's educational institutions, and also in initial appointments to government job posts. The quota will be implemented based on the criteria and specifications laid out by the Centre," he said.
The CS also said that the necessary rule modifications and implementation guidelines would be issued by the general administration and education departments separately.
With the introduction of this quota, the total reservations implemented in the state has now gone up to 60% as a 50% quota already exists for Telangana's SCs, STs, BCs and OBC Muslims.
The Centre had introduced the EWS reservation scheme in 2019. However, it had left the decision of implementing the quota entirely in the hands of the respective state governments of the 29 states of the country.