Telangana govt rejects SC panel reco to remove quota for creamy layer

The Telangana government on 4 February, Tuesday, accepted three key recommendations of a judicial commission appointed by it for implementation of SC categorisation, while rejecting another of the panel's suggestions — the one to exempt the creamy layer from reservations — chief minister A. Revanth Reddy said.

Reddy was making a statement on the categorisation of Scheduled Castes in the state assembly.

The Commission, headed by retired High Court judge Justice Shameem Akther, submitted its recommendations to the sub-committee headed by state civil supplies and irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday, 3 February.

The panel has recommended the introduction of a ‘creamy layer’ category, suggesting that MLAs, MPs, Zila Parishad chairpersons, mayors and other public representatives as well as those in government Group I services and similar positions, should be considered as the creamy layer.

The commission said the state government should take appropriate steps to exclude these people from availing the benefits of second-generation reservations, Reddy said.

“The government, after reviewing the recommendations of the single-member judicial commission led by Justice Shameem Akhtar, has approved recommendations 1, 2 and 3 mentioned above. However, it has rejected the 4th recommendation, which pertains to excluding the creamy layer from the scope of reservations,” Revanth Reddy said.

The commission in its recommendations said the 59 Scheduled Caste (SC) communities can be divided into three groups — I, II and III — to bring the total reservations to 15 per cent.

After debate on the subject, Revanth Reddy stated that the accepted recommendations will be enacted into law to ensure their legality cannot be questioned in the future. He also mentioned that the state government will soon issue orders for the smooth implementation of the recommendations.