Venkaiah: Bill soon on SC categorisation 

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Urban Development and Information & Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu has assured the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) that the NDA government would try to amend the Constitution and see to it that the categor­ization of Scheduled Castes takes place before the term of this government comes to an end.

Addressing a gathering at Parade Grounds, where the MRPS organized a public meeting on Sunday, Venkaiah Naidu said that it was a good augury that all parties represented on the dais, cutting across party lines, had extended full support to the demand of MRPS. He assured the crowd that the government would do its best to introduce a Constitution Amendment Bill before the end of its term.

Venkaiah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed in principle for categorization of SCs. Since a Constitutional amendment was required, the NDA government required the support of all political parties and all State governments.

Hence, he advised MRPS president Manda Krishna Madiga to talk to TRS party chief and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and enlist his support as well (KCR had in the past supported the demand). He said: “Have faith in us. During our tenure, we will try to amend the Constitution and see that SC categorization becomes a reality. Your demand is justifiable. I will once again talk to the Prime Minister,” Venkaiah said.

Venkaiah Naidu said the aim of the government was to ensure that all castes got justice as per their population. It was also the philosophy of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. The aim of the BJP was to bring about unity among all castes and to do equitable justice for all. Venkaiah said that he had been guiding Krishna Madiga for the past 23 years and said that he would do everything that was necessary to see that the dream of MRPS became a reality.

dmiring the disciplined manner in which the meeting was conducted, Venkaiah Naidu said that he was reminded of the mammoth meetings held by NTR. MRPS activists from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh also attended the meeting. The TPCC president, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, also supported the cause of MRPS and said that the Congress party would support the BJP if it brought in a bill for SC categorization.

He said though in the past some efforts were made in that direction, the Supreme Court had struck down the decisions saying that it was not within the purview of the State government. MRPS president Krishna Madiga said that he had made vain efforts to meet Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. “I tried many times to get his appointment and even sought the help of his ministers, but the Chief Minister did not give time.”

He said in the past many governments had constituted committees to study the demand, but none of them tried to take the issue to a logical conclusion. He expressed his hope that with the unanimous support received from all political parties at this meeting, the Union government would take steps to introduce a bill in Parliament at the earliest.

The CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said that the CPI was also keen on SC categorization taking place at the earliest. Leader of Opposition in Telangana Assembly K Jana Reddy, TTDP working president A Revanth Reddy and others were present at the meeting.