Andhra Pradesh assembly passes Kapu reservation bill

Andhra Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed the Kapu reservation bill which provides 5 percent reservations in education and employment for the community in the state. With this, the reservation exceeds 50 percent ceiling.

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, said, "As 5 per cent of reservation to Kapus makes total reservation exceed 50 per cent, central government nod is compulsory. We will send this bill to the centre. We ask them to include this reservation in Schedule 9 so that it will become legitimate."

"We held discussions with leaders of Kapu community. They said they don't need a political reservation. Only education and employment reservation is enough. So we proceeded with that," he said.

Also, the government passed a resolution to include Boyas, Valmikis and related sub-sects of Andhra Pradesh in Scheduled Tribes and put forth the matter before Centre to provide them reservation accordingly. In early 2016, the Kapus of the modern Andhra Pradesh state launched an agitation demanding the OBC status, leading to violent protests.

The Indian National Congress party and the YSR Congress party have supported their demand. Kapu refers to a social grouping of agriculturists found primarily in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (the Telugu-speaking states). Kapus are primarily an agrarian community, forming a heterogeneous peasant caste.