Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 18 : Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Mahesh Kumar Goud on Tuesday reaffirmed the party's commitment to increasing reservation to 42 per cent and called on the Central government to lift the existing 50 per cent ceiling on quotas.
Speaking to ANI, he said: "We will go and demand the Union government to overcome the ceiling cap of 50 per cent. I am the man who presented the declaration, so 42 per cent is our promise; we are going to give 42 per cent."
Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that the passage of the bills was 'revolutionary' and said that the Congress Party would ensure a caste census in India.
"The Congress government has fulfilled its promise of increasing OBC reservations in Telangana. The actual number of OBC communities obtained through scientific caste count in the state was accepted, and a bill for 42 per cent reservation was passed in the Assembly to ensure their equal participation in education, employment and politics. This is indeed a revolutionary step towards social justice, and the wall of 50 per cent reservation in the state has also been demolished," Rahul Gandhi posted on X."
By analysing the social and economic conditions of each community using the caste survey data, policies will be formulated that will ensure the well-being of all. The Telangana government has also formed an independent expert group for this. I have been continuously saying that only through X-ray - i.e. caste census - backward and deprived communities can get their due rights," he added.
On Monday, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy put the OBC population in the state at 56.36 per cent and stated that the government has resolved to ensure 42 per cent reservation for this group in education, jobs, and employment.
In a post on X, CM Reddy said, "Telangana is proud to lead the social revolution in #India It is my honour to announce the longest pending demand of the subaltern groups since Indian Independence, the yearning of our brothers and sisters belonging to the Backward Castes, on being counted & recognised in an official census - has finally found deliverance."
"Today, as the Leader of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, as Chief Minister, I solemnly declare that based on the most scientific, methodically rigorous, and excruciating efforts of our people, we can say that the OBCs population in #Telangana is 56.36 per cent," CM Reddy said.
"We are now resolving to ensure 42 per cent reservations for this group in all walks of life - education, jobs and employment & political representation. Be on the right side of history & let each one of us become a champion of this historic move," CM Reddy said.