Taking cue from the Mudragada Padmanabham’s Kapu reservation movement, leaders of Boya caste from the state urged chief minister Chandrababu Naidu that their community be included in the ST list as per the promise given at the time of elections.

A delegation led by government chief whip and Rayadurgam MLA Kalava Srinivasulu presented a memorandum to this effect to the chief minister on Monday at Vijayawada camp office.

Stating that the according ST status to Boya-Valmikis was long pending issue, Srinivasulu brought to the notice of chief minister Naidu, how many other states accorded ST or SC status to the community.

While Karnataka state accorded Boya community ST status, the states of UP, Kerala, Haryana states included the caste among the SCs. He said the issue had been hanging fire since the days of NT Ramarao and this time, the TDP had included it in the election manifesto-2014.

Citing the Karnataka example Srinivasulu said the Boyas could be given ST status either by a cabinet decision or by an assembly resolution or by appointing a committee. Karnataka did this in 1991 based on a report by a commission appointed to study the social backwardness of Boyas.
Talking to Telugu360.com later, Srinivasulu said CM had responded positively to their demand. ” This issue had not only been included in the poll manifest, the CM himself assured ST status to Boya during his pada yatra in Anantapur district in 2014,” he said.

according to Srinivasulu, the CM had assured them that the government would take a final decision on according ST status to Boya-Valmikis in the areas whey were in large number. The CM also said the government would soon conduct a survey on the socio-economic conditions of various backward sections in order to ensure that they get the welfare benefits in the ratio of population.