Govt includes 16 castes in BC list: Minister

Hyderabad, Sep 6: Social Welfare Minister P Subash Chandra Bose on Saturday, Sep 6 said the State Government had included 16 castes in the list of Backward Classes (BC) recently as per the recommendations of the Andhra Pradesh Commission for Backward Classes.

Replying to a question raised by opposition TDP members D Veerabhadra Rao and M Padmaja during Question Hour in the Council, Mr Bose said there was no proposal to enhance the reservations for backward classes. The Government was strictly following the Supreme Court's direction that the reservation should not exceed more than 50 per cent, he added.

The minister said BC Department had already issued orders for reimbursement of tuition fee and special fee from the current financial year to all eligible category 'A' (convenor quota) BC students, who were pursuing professional and non-professional courses in Government, University, Private-aided and Private-unaided institutions on saturation basis on par with the social welfare department.

The Government had referred the representations of another 20 communities to include them in the BC list to the Commission for their examination and recommendation. The Government would take a decision based on the Commission's recommendations, he said.

UNI