BENGALURU: Close on the heels of announcing welfare boards for the Golla and Maratha communities, the State Government on Tuesday decided to set up a Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation. The move has now triggered a demand for similar boards from representatives of other castes and communities.
Senior JDS leader Basavaraj Horatti, former Congress minister M B Patil and Agriculture Minister B C Patil of the BJP had been demanding the setting up of the corporation. They are now pushing for 16 per cent reservation, on the lines of Maharashtra. Currently, the Lingayat community comes under Section 3B of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation list and is entitled to 4% of the total 32% reservation for OBCs.
Other communities too demand reservation
THE Maratha community too has been demanding inclusion under the 2A list of Backward Classes so that they can benefit from reservation in jobs and seats in educational colleges. Added to this, many community members from Haalumatha, Valmiki and Panchamasali communities are also demanding reservation with the backing of religious leaders.
Last month, the Panchamasali Peetha seer had gone on hunger strike in front of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, seeking inclusion of the community among the most backward classes under 2A category. Prior to this Rajanahalli Valmiki Peetha Seer Prasannananda Swamiji had sought enhanced reservation for the Valmiki community.
CM B S Yediyurappa will have a daunting task with demands for reservation for various castes coming from religious heads and political party leaders, including from the BJP. Ever since Yediyurappa became CM in 2019, he has ordered the setting up of various welfare boards and corporations for Brahmins, Gollas, Marathas and Lingayats.
During Siddaramiah’s tenure as CM, boards and corporations for the Banjara, Valmiki and a few other communities were set up while H D Kumaraswamy, as CM, had ordered the setting up of Vaishya board.