Prasannanandapuri of Valmiki Gurupeeth on Friday warned that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s stay on the third floor of Vidhana Soudha would be cut short if our demand to hike ST quota for Valmiki community was not fulfilled by Feb 9.
Speaking to reporters here, the seer said, “On Feb 9, the jatra mahotsav of Maharshi Valmiki will be held at Rajanahalli, Harihar. The chief minister should announce hiking quota to Valmiki before Feb 9, failing which, the chief minister will have to face the consequences,” he warned.
“The Valmiki community has been fighting for the hike in reservation under Scheduled Tribes from 3% to 7.5% for the past 10 years or so. The government has recently constituted a commission to look into our demand. If the commission recommends for hike in quota, the chief minister should make an official announcement on the same by Feb 9,” the seer said.
“The Valmiki community is being used for vote bank politics. But the governments over the years did not respond to the problems faced by the community.
Ahead of 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP had assured a DCM post for the community,” he said and added that apart from quota hike, the government should constitute a separate ministry for the Valmiki community and rename Hampi Kannada University after Maharshi Valmiki.