Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], June 14 : Bharath Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on Saturday said that Telangana is looking forward towards the implementation of the Backward Class reservation bill, but expressed her disappointment as it is "stuck" at the president level.
She said whenever the bill is passed, the BRS hopes that the local body elections in the state will be conducted and also demanded the state government implement the bill; otherwise, the party won't allow the local body elections in the state.
"Telangana state has been looking forward to the implementation of the Backward Classes reservation bill. We all fought very hard for it... Unfortunately, it is stuck at the President's level. Whenever it is passed, we hope the local body elections will be conducted... We demand from the government that unless the bill is implemented, we will not let local body elections happen in the state", K Kavitha told ANI.
Meanwhile, following the Union Government's caste enumeration decision, the Karnataka government has decided to conduct a second socio-economic survey in the state.
On Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the initiation of a new socio-educational survey to be completed within 90 days. He said that as per the law, it was necessary to conduct a fresh survey.
CM Siddaramaiah said, "The last socio-educational survey was conducted a decade ago during my previous tenure (2013-2018), but its recommendations were not implemented due to political changes. Now, ten years have passed since the Kantharaju report (2015), and as per law, particularly Section 11(1) of the Backward Classes Amendment Act and Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution, it is necessary to conduct a fresh survey. The Karnataka Cabinet has unanimously decided to initiate a new socio-educational survey, to be completed within 90 days."
He further said that the focus was on updating data to ensure fair representation.
"There has been no discussion on removing any community; rather, we are focusing on updated data to ensure fair representation. Based on the earlier Kantharaju report, 8 per cent reservation for the Muslim community will be retained while we move forward with updated insights," he further said.