Hyderabad, Aug 25:
Chief Mnister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on Tuesday proposed a resolution in the House requesting the Centre to amend the Constitution so as to extend the Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians (Christian coverts from SC). Following the resolution by the Chief Minister, the House adopted the resolution appealing the Center to extend the SC status to Dalit Christians in the State.
Excepting the Lok Satta and the BJP parties all other parties in the House okayed the resolution proposed by the Chief Minister. Speaking on the occasion, the CM said, at present the benefits availed by the Dalits are not enjoyed by their fellow brothers who took to Christianity. So the SC status to the Dalit Christians is very much justified, the CM added. The Government is very much bent upon extending the same facilities to dalit Muslims, the CM said.
The resolution proposed by YSR received whole-hearted support from parties like Telugu Desam, Praja Rajyam, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, CPI and CPI(M).
The TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu extending the support to the resolution said that the promise of providing SC status to Dalit Christians was there in their election manifesto during the recently concluded elections. The resolution was opposed by BJP floor leader G. Kishan Reddy who said that this move is only to gain political mileage.