Commission for SC categorisation; CM calls for all party meeting

Hyderabad, May 20 (UNI) Responding to the indefinite fast undertaken by Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) founder and President Manda Krishna Madiga, demanding categorisation of the SCs, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today announced that the government had already appointed a commission under the chairmanship of a retired High Court justice, to look into the matter.

Talking to newspersons before leaving for the 'Rythu Chaithanya Yatra' (Farmer Awareness Campaign), Dr Reddy said the Commission would start functioning from tomorrow. He also announced that he had called for an all-party meeting to go into the problem and suggest an immediate solution.

Assuring that categorisation would be brought into the force before the next academic year, Dr Reddy appealed to Manda Krishna Madiga to withdraw his hunger strike. He also urged his followers to desist from damaging government properties like busses, government vehicles and offices which would only result in loss to the state and the people.

Meanwhile, reports from Visakhapatnam, Prakasham, Mahabubnagar and other districts said MRPS activists were continuing arson and other forms of vandalism to express their solidarity with the fast of Manda Krishna Madiga.

Madigas a sub-sect of the SCs had been demanding categorisation of the SCs alleging that all the benefits, including reservations accruing to the SCs were being snatched away by Malas, an educated and dominant community.

UNI