HYDERABAD: After Gujarat Telangana is all set to become the second state in the country to implement the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in the general category that was announced by the Centre.On January 12, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019, which grants 10 per cent reservation in central government jobs and central educational institutions for the EWS.“We have decided to implement the 10% quota for EWS in state government jobs and educational institutions on the lines of the quota announced by the NDA government at the Centre,” a senior official in the CMO told TOI on Monday.Chief secretary S K Joshi said that it was not mandatory for states to implement the 10 per quota in state jobs and education but Telangana can make modifications to the central Act.Sources in the state government said they would study the new Act and if there is leeway, reduce the creamy layer upper limit of Rs 8 lakh per annum that has been set for the poor to qualify for the quota. “As far as we are concerned, the 10% quota is not only for the EWS from upper classes. The poor from the SC/ST and OBC sections too can avail of this quota,” the source said.Since it is not mandatory for states to follow the Centre and implement the 10 per cent quota in state jobs and educational institutions, the TRS government ’s move to do so in Telangana assumes political significance. It indicates its willingness to sail with the NDA government on key policies.On the day the NDA government announced the quota, the TRS government did not react to it, but demanded the next day that the centre should implement the 12% hike in quota for minorities, including Muslims that the Telangana government had legislated by including it in Schedule IX of the Constitution.However, sources in the state government indicated that it was more a prudent policy than siding with the NDA government as the TRS regime can go to the people before the Lok Sabha elections and tell them that the state government has extended the benefits announced for the poor by the Centre to state jobs and education as well.