Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is keen on including Balija, Kapu, Telaga and Ontari castes in the Backward Classes category, according to A.P. Kapu Welfare and Development Corporation Chairman Chalamasetti Ramanujaya.
“The government had constituted the corporation with a corpus fund of Rs. 100 crore and promised to allot up to Rs. 5,000 crore to it to extend loans to small entrepreneurs and scholarships to children from the community,” Mr. Ramanujaya said here on Monday.
Mr. Ramanujaya said the corporation would assist around 1,000 members of the Balija community from each district to start small businesses in Amaravati.
TDP district president and MLC Silpa Chakrapani Reddy said the party had accommodated Balijas in the its district and mandal committees. Moreover the Cabinet had approved the inclusion of Balijas on the BC list and increasing funding for the corporation to Rs. 1,000 crore a year. Maintaining that the budgetary outlay for BC welfare was Rs. 6,640 crore, he said BCs need not fear loss of opportunities by inclusion of Balijas on the list.
TDP leader I. Rampulla Reddy said the government would increase the quota for BCs. All-India Kapu Samakhya district president A. Ananthaiah and general secretary C. Somasekhar sought loans to help women start petty businesses and find self-employment.
Corporation Directors V. Ramachandra Rao and Y. Naveen, Samakhya’s all-India general secretary Thota Srinivas, Kurnool district leaders Balaiah, K. Mohan, Madhusudana Rao and C. Gurusekhar, Prakasam district president S. Subramanyam, Nandyal Market Committee chairman S. Sivaram and Kurnool Bar Association president K. Omkar participated.
