Hyderabad: Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu on Tuesday urged the Centre to clear the BC quota bill. He said the state had completed all statutory steps and now expected action from the Union Government.
Speaking at a protest in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, Bhatti said Telangana’s caste survey had set a national benchmark. “It is now guiding future policy on backward class reservations,” he said.
He stood alongside Congress MPs and lawmakers from other states. The state, he said, had moved an adjournment motion in Parliament to demand a debate. Since the BJP had supported the bill in the Assembly, he expected it to back it in Parliament too.
Bhatti defended the use of an Ordinance before introducing the bill. He said it helped lift the 50% quota cap created under the BRS government. Without that step, he warned, any new law would remain stuck under the old ceiling.
Calling the protest a turning point, Bhatti said it pushed for 42% reservation in local bodies. It also sought fair quotas in education and jobs. He said the goal was to compel the President to approve the bill already passed by the Assembly and cleared by the Governor.
Bhatti credited Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for assigning him the caste survey. After he submitted the report, a Cabinet Sub-Committee led by Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy reviewed it. The Cabinet cleared the findings, and the Assembly passed the bill unanimously. The file now awaits presidential assent.
