Chandrababu Naidu made a mess of EWS quota, alleges Kannababu

Vijayawada: Minister for agriculture Kurasala Kannababu on Thursday clarified that the state government had simplified norms stipulated by the Central government for the implementation of 10 per cent reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in employment and education, without any sub-categorisation and slammed opposition leaders for misleading the initiative.

Addressing a press conference here, the minister said that people who are not covered under the existing reservations for BCs, SCs, STs and whose gross annual family income is below Rs 8 lakh per annual, are eligible for EWS reservation in both employment and educational opportunities. He stated that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had taken this decision to benefit the poor people left out in upper sections and thus implemented the EWS reservation in educational institutions soon after forming the government and from now on it will also be implemented in government recruitments.

Kannababu said the previous government had made a mess of EWS reservation system by introducing sub-catagorisation allotting five per cent to Kapu community and remaining five per cent to other unreserved sections, only to create confusion among the public.

It had also sought to enact a legislation in 2017 classifying Kapus as backward classes by creating F category with five per cent reservation, which was rejected by the Centre. The minister said that the Centre has also written letters to former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu seeking clarification on Kapu reservation, and many people had also approached courts challenging Chandrababu's foolish approach.

Further, the minister flayed Chandrababu Naidu for indulging in vote bank politics on EWS reservations without implementing them and stated that Chandrabadu had cheated the Kapu community in the name of providing reservations and used them for his political gains. Kannababu said that the state government's intention is to support all sections and it has taken a crucial decision in providing EWS reservations in jobs as well along with education, despite the pending cases in court.