BELAGAVI: Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai on Tuesday introduced a Bill in the Assembly to replace an ordinance on enhancing the reservation for Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribes. The government had promulgated the ordinance in October to increase the quota for SCs to 17 per cent and STs to 7 per cent. At that time, the government had said the relevant law would be passed in the next immediate legislature session.
Accordingly, Bommai tabled the Karnataka Scheduled Cases and Schedules Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Post in the Services under the State) Bill, 2022. Once passed, it will provide for the reservation to SC/STs in admissions to educational institutions and appointments in government services.
Before the Bill was tabled, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, who also gave an adjournment notice on the issue, said as changes in reservation concerns the Constitution, it should be discussed thoroughly before being passed. He feared that the proposal may not be constitutionally maintainable and said the government should tread cautiously.
Bommai said the government is open for a discussion on legal implications and it will also present its stand on how to face such hurdles. Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kagegi said the House will decide the schedule for the discussion later.
Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol tried to deflect the issue by saying opposition parties are opposed to the reservation for SC/STs. But opposition leaders shot back, saying they are not opposed to the decision, but are concerned about its effective implementation. The government should spell out its plan to give legal sanctity to the decision, they said.
3 OTHER BILLS PASSED
Three other Bills introduced in the Assembly on Tuesday are: Karnataka Special Investment Region Bill, 2022; Karnataka Land Revenue (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022; and Karnataka Border Area Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022. The first Bill will help the government establish, operate, regulate and manage industrial regions. Though the government had announced Dharwad and Tumakuru as special investment regions, it had no legal backing. The Karnataka Border Area Development Authority Act was an amendment to the earlier legislation of 2010. It empowers the government to add, alter or omit entries specified in the schedule appended to the Act by notification in the official gazette.