The Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has asked the lawmakers belonging to SC and ST communities to decide the path of development of their communities in the state, as against the practice of others deciding on their welfare.
Organising a meeting with the SC/ST MPs, MLAs and MLCs, first of its kind in the newly formed state, from all political parties, he said “whatever the SC/ST communities want, it should be decided by the public representatives of these communities. This is precisely the reason why the two committees have been constituted.”
The Chief Minister, in keeping with the spirit of involving lawmakers from all parties to suggest measures for SC, ST welfare as well as amendments to be brought in to the existing Act, constituted two committees. The ST Committee will be headed by Tourism, Culture and ST Welfare Minister Ajmera Chandulal and the SC Committee will have Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari as the chairman.
Stating that the committees should meet frequently and make field visits, Rao said it would be up to the committees to decide on what measures should be taken for SC, ST welfare. He assured that the decisions taken by the committees whose members are from all political parties will be implemented by the government.
For the first time responding to the demand of SC categorisation, the Chief Minister said that he was willing to send an all-party delegation to the Centre to press for SC categorisation. However, the opposition parties and also Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi has been demanding that the Chief Minister should lead the delegation.
He said that his commitment was to ensure 100 per cent qualitative change in the lives of SCs and STs. “Besides allocation of funds for the SC/STs, special funds should be given to them and an action plan for the implementation of the same be made. If funds allocated for a particular year remain unspent, they should be carried forward to the next year. Rules have not been formed for the SC/ST Sub Plan. Amendments should also be made to the Sub Plan,” he added.