Confusion over EWS quota
Confusion prevails over implementation of the 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in education and employment in Telangana. Official sources in the Secretariat said the state government would appoint a committee to study implementation of EWS quota in various states and make recommendations to the state government. The implementation of EWS quota is delayed by over two years in the state.
In January 2019, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre passed a Constitutional amendment Bill in Parliament seeking to provide 10 per cent reservations for EWS in education and employment. However, the Centre left the decision to states on when to implement the EWS quota and whether to implement it at all.
While several states started implementing this in 2019 and 2020, the TS government is yet to act.
Chief Minister K. Chanadrashekar Rao had on January 21 this year announced the state government's decision to implement EWS quota. Accordingly, chief secretary Somesh Kumar issued a government order on February 8. However, no guidelines were issued so far.
To implement 10 per cent EWS quota, the state government needs to create supernumerary seats and jobs.
However, the government is confused whether to create 10 per cent or 20 per cent supernumerary seats and jobs. This is because the Centre has created 20 per cent supernumerary seats and jobs to implement EWS quota. Of this, 10 per cent is extended to EWS and the rest 10 per cent is distributed among reserved categories.
The state government has to first take a decision on creating supernumerary seats in educational institutions and supernumerary jobs in government departments to ensure that the existing reservations amounting to 50 per cent extended to BCs, SCs, STs and Minorities are not disturbed.
The remaining 50 per cent quota is under open category under which all categories irrespective of caste and religion can compete.
Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has created 10 per cent supernumerary seats only for EWS. In this backdrop, officials in TS government are confused over which model to adopt. Indications are that the EWS quota implementation will be delayed further till the committee submits its report.
THE REMAINING 50% quota is under open category under which all categories irrespective of caste, religion can compete.
The Gujarat Cricket Association succumbed to the temptation of naming the stadium after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The cricket arena had many earlier monikers like Gujarat and Motera, besides having borne the name of a famous son of the soil in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The baptism does break an unwritten law that no edifice should be named after a living person even if it seemed apt to honour a person who headed GCA in the long running Indian tradition of politicians getting themselves elected as presidents of cricket associations. The concept of a magnificent, cricket arena that cost more than `800 crores came from his grand vision and its creation was carried out by the other leading contemporary political personality, Union home minister Amit Shah, and his son who is the BCCI secretary. Donald Trump, as US President, even paid a ceremonial visit there just before the pandemic was declared in 2020.
The honour bestowed spontaneously and sentimentally on Narendra Modi is somewhat akin to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru being awarded the Bharat Ratna by the first President Rajendra Prasad. But it does rankle considering this is a stadium named like this since the Maharashtra politician and chief minister S.K. Wankhede named one in Churchgate in Mumbai after himself in 1974. A second cricket stadium within a stone’s throw of historic Brabourne was owed to a clash of egos between Maharashtra Cricket Association and Cricket Club of India. The era of building an edifice of homage to members of one political family is thought to be well and truly over. And so the Congress playing the Sardar Patel card in criticism seems hypocritical now. The issue, however, is to do with the need for 21st-century India to evolve from a sycophantic, fetishist and neta-worshipping past.