Telangana to follow TN model for reservations

Hyderabad, Telangana will follow the Tamil Nadu model to provide reservations to weaker sections of the society, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao said Friday.

Speaking in the state assembly, he tried to allay apprehensions of the opposition parties over the implementation of Telangana Rashtra Samithi's election promises to provide 12 percent reservations each to Muslims and scheduled tribes.

He said: "Since the weaker sections constitute 85 percent of Telangana's population, there was a need to make a provision for adequate reservations to them".

He told the house that a committee headed by a retired judge will be constituted to work out the quota for various weaker sections in education and government jobs.

"There should be no doubts over our poll promises for reservations," he said when Congress leader K. Jana Reddy wanted to know how the government will provide 12 percent quota to Muslims.

The question arised after the courts struck down five percent reservation and the government of the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2007 had to bring it down to four percent and restrict it to backward classes among the community.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, said: "TRS made the promise only after a detailed study. The quote would be provided within the legal framework".

He pointed out that though the Constitution has set the upper limit of total reservations at 50 percent, the Tamil Nadu government extended it to 70 with the provisions of legislature. "When Tamil Nadu can do it, why not Telangana," he asked.