AMARAVATI: Minister for Agriculture Kurasala Kannababu on Thursday clarified that the Andhra Pradesh State government had simplified norms stipulated by the Central government for the implementation of 10 percent 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, 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 YS 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 now on it will also be implemented in government recruitments.

Minister Kannababu stated that the previous government had made a fuss in the EWS reservation system by introducing sub-categorisation allotting five percent reservation to the Kapu community and the remaining five percent 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 percent reservation, which was rejected by the Centre.

The Minister said that the Centre has also written letters to Chandrababu Naidu seeking clarification on Kapu reservation, and many people have also approached Courts challenging Chandrababu’s foolish approach.

Further, the Minister flayed Chandrababu Naidu over making vote bank politics on EWS reservations without implementing EWS quota and stated that Chandrababu 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 has taken a crucial decision in providing EWS reservations in jobs as well along with education, despite the pending cases in Court.

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