Karnataka agrees to internal Scheduled Caste quota after Supreme Court ruling, sets up panel

The Government of Karnataka on Monday agreed to implement internal reservation for scheduled caste communities, Indian Express reported. For this purpose, a committee will be constituted to collate the data, the state government announced.

The decision was made after Supreme Court August 1 ruling which allowed sub-classification of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories to ensure reservation in government jobs and education.

After Monday’s cabinet meeting, state Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil told reporters that the proposed one-man committee would be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. The panel will report back in three months.

The Congress government will not issue in this state notifications in case of new recruitment for government positions until the report is submitted. “It (recruitment) will start only after the committee submits its report.” India today he quoted Patil as saying.

The new panel was formed after the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state rejected the Justice AJ Sadashiva Commission’s report on internal reservations in 2022, Indian Express he quoted Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa as saying.

“At the moment, the census does not have data on internal reservations,” he said, adding that the new commission will have to refer to census data or develop it on its own.

The state government will discuss the report with all 101 Scheduled Caste communities before introducing reservations, Mahadevappa said. “Everyone wants internal reservation, provided it is based on empirical data,” he added.

Priyank Kharge, state Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, noted that the Supreme Court judgment stated that empirical data should be relied on while issuing internal reservations.

Ministers added that the source of the data will be clarified once the commission’s mandate is issued, Indian Express reported.

In its report submitted in 2012 Sadashiva Commission he proposed dividing the 101 castes into four categories, each of which received 15% reservation.

Under this division, 6% would be reserved for the left scheduled caste, 5% for the right scheduled caste, 3% for the Bhovi, Lambani, Koracha and Korama communities and 1% for other scheduled caste groups.

Ahead of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, the previous state BJP government had announced 6% reservation for the Left Scheduled Caste, 5.5% for the Right Scheduled Caste and 4.5% for communities like Banjaras and Bhovis. Indian Express reported.

The remaining communes in this category were allocated an amount of 1%.

However, members of the Lambani community protested against the decision, maintaining that the state government had implemented the recommendations of the Sadashiva Commission through a back channel.

Subsequently, the then BJP government shelved these plans citing legal issues related to changes in the overall reservation system in the state, Indian Express reported.

Karnataka’s announcement on Monday also came two weeks after Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said his state government tool subclassification of scheduled castes to ensure reservation.

This made Haryana the first state to follow the Supreme Court verdict ruling.

In its August 1 verdict, a seven-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud held that sub-classification of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories is permissible for the purpose of providing reservation in government jobs and education based on empirical data .

The court voted by a majority of 6:1 annulled a 2004 court judgment stating that scheduled castes form a homogeneous group and therefore cannot be divided into categories.

Four of the seven judges also called for the identification of a creamy layer between the categories of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes so that they can be removed from the reservation matrix.

The cream layer is designed to exclude wealthier and more advanced members of the group from the benefits of affirmative action. However, applying the cream layer was not one of the questions addressed to the adjudicating panel, but the suggestions of the four judges no legal force.

Several states across the country saw this protests by Dalit and Adivasi groups against the verdict. Opposition parties too criticized This. BJP MPs representatives of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities also expressed concerns over the court’s observations.

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