VIJAYAWADA: In a bid to pressurise the State government to grant reservation to Kapus in Andhra Pradesh and their inclusion in BC list, KTB Samkshema Samakhya mooted formation of an apolitical Joint Action Committee.
In a meeting convened under the Samkhya in Vijayawada on Sunday, representatives from various Kapu organisations and Kapu representatives from main political parties in the State including TDP, YSRC and Congress had emphasised collective effort to achieve the objective.
Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, former DGP MV Bhaskar Rao and retired IAS officer KV Rao, who are a part of the Samkhya, said the meeting resolved to form a Joint Action Committee, to look for legal recourse and to meet Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Joint Action Committee will have no political parties’ representatives but will be purely an apolitical outfit with Kapu leaders cutting across party lines extending external support.
Since Kapus had enjoyed reservation in the past in British regime then again for four years during Damodaram Sanjeevaiah, which got arbitrarily removed when Kasu Brahmananda Reddy was the Chief Minister, the need has arisen for legal approach to look into the possibility of revival of old reservations.
“Further, after Mudragada Padmanabham agitation in 1994, Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy government had issued GO No 30. The legal sanctity of that GO and possibility of having it will be studied. Once the Smart Pulse Survey report is out and socio-economic status of Kapus is analysed, we will be meeting the Chief Minister,” Bhaskara Rao said.
It is learnt that already a committee of senior advocates in Supreme Court and High Court are studying the legal recourse and likely to submit its report to the KTB Samkshema Samkhya after January 15.
Bhaskar Rao, who emphasised the need for political lobbying, said without political will it is not possible to achieve the reservation and BC status for Kapus.
He also stressed that opportunities in education, employment and other fields including politics should be provided to Kapu community in proportion to its population.
With emphasis on police permission for agitations, the former DGP opined that protest is a democratic right and when it is in peaceful form, there should not be any restrictions. “Do not treat Kapu agitation as a law and order problem, but as a socio-economic struggle,” he said.