Finance Minister Etala Rajender has reiterated the State Government’s commitment for the welfare of the weaker and downtrodden sections without giving scope for political considerations.
Participating as chief guest at Maharshi Valmiki Jayanti celebrations organised by the State BC Welfare Department here on Sunday, the Minister said the Telangana Rashtra Samiti had not come to power as a political party, but as a party which endeared itself to different sections of the people during the 14-year struggle for the formation of separate Telangana State. In line with the commitments, the TRS made during the struggle for the separate Statehood, the government had initiated several programmes for the welfare of these sections.
Equal opportunities
Accordingly, it had taken steps to open 256 ashram schools for SCs/STs, 119 for BCs and another 160 for minorities as the government firmly believes that enhancing educational opportunities among these sections would go a long way in alleviating these sections from the problems they are facing. In this context, he referred to the Valmiki Boya community which was being treated under the BCs in some parts and STs in some others.
“How can the same set of people be treated under different castes in the same State?” he wondered. The government had accordingly constituted the commission headed by former bureaucrat S. Chellappa to look into such issues and suggest remedial measures. He expressed hope that the government would take a positive decision on inclusion of Valmiki Boya community in the ST category once the commission submitted its report.
Panchayat Raj Minister Jupalli Krishna Rao said the demand of the Valmiki Boya community for inclusion in the list of the STs is justified and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had already initiated steps in this direction.
BC Welfare Association president R. Krishnaiah, State Planning Board chairman S. Niranjan Reddy and others also spoke.
