Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday announced that the state government would set apart a 5% reservation for the Kapu community out of the 10% quota announced by the Centre on January 7 for the economically disadvantaged, PTI reported.
“We had requested the Centre to extend 5% reservation to the Kapu community long ago, but Bharatiya Janata Party leaders did not agree,” the chief minister told Telugu Desam Party leaders during a teleconference from Amaravati. “Now, out of the 10% reservation provided by the Centre to the economically weaker sections, we will give 5% to Kapus and the balance to the poor.”
Before the 2014 state elections, the Telugu Desam Party had promised to include the Kapu community in the backward classes list and grant them reservation if it came to power. In December 2017, the state government passed a bill to this effect in the Assembly. However, the Centre said that the plan would violate a Supreme Court judgement that limits reservations to 50% of total jobs or seats available.
On January 10, the Centre moved The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019, to introduce the new 10% quota for the economically disadvantaged. President Ram Nath Kovind signed the bill into law on January 12.
Other decisions
On Monday, the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet decided to provide an annual cash benefit of Rs 10,000 per acre to farmers, and raise old age pensions from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per month, the Hindustan Times reported. The state also decided to write off life tax for tractors and auto rickshaws, and sanction the first installment of dearness allowance for 12 lakh government employees.
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