Kapu JAC opposes ‘Giri Balija’ tag, demands G.O. 5 withdrawal

T he Andhra Pradesh Kapu Joint Action Committee (JAC) has demanded that the state government immediately withdraw Government Order (G.O.) No. 5 and remove the “Balija” category from the “Giri Balija” classification.

Addressing a meeting of Balija community leaders in Puttaparthi on Tuesday, Kapu JAC president Chandu Janardhan criticized the government’s move. While welcoming the recognition given to the Dommara community by the coalition government, he said the inclusion of “Balija” under the “Giri Balija” category was strongly opposed by the community.

“Balijas trace their lineage to the Vijayanagara emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya. Merging other castes into the Balija identity is nothing short of an attack on our community,” Janardhan said. He urged the government to revoke the order and correct what he described as a deliberate injustice.

Janardhan further announced that the Kapu JAC would soon launch an indefinite hunger strike demanding that the decades-old demand for BC reservations for Kapu and Balija communities be fulfilled. “Generations of our people have been waiting for this justice. The government must act now,” he asserted.

Speaking on the occasion, Sri Krishnadevaraya Employees JAC president Soma Routhu Ramakrishna highlighted the setbacks faced by Kapu and Balija youth due to lack of reservations. He said that during the YSR Congress government, students from these communities were deprived of access to both EWS and BC reservations, which cost them nearly 5,000 ward secretary jobs. Similarly, under the present Chandrababu Naidu government, the absence of reservations has denied opportunities to at least 1,500 candidates in the ongoing DSC teacher recruitment exams, he alleged.

Several community leaders and political representatives also attended the meeting, including Market Yard Chairman Poola Shiva Prasad, Janasena leaders Suresh, Penumuri Kumar, Hari Royal, and Suresh Babu, BJP district leaders Bala Gangadhar and Kaveti Mallikarjun, TDP district leaders Dasari Srinivasulu and Nagireddy, and others such as Boggarm Srinivasulu, Kuntimiddi Ram Anjaneyulu, A. Venkatesh, M. Karunakar, Chittibabu, Manjunath, S. Gangadhar, Venkataadri, and Dasari Shankar.