CM Siddaramaiah to take up SC quota issue at next cabinet meet

The cabinet subcommittee will recommend the distribution of quota among 101 different castes within the SC category, in proportion to their population, sources told TNIE.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Chief Secretary Shalini Rajaneesh and others at a meeting on internal reservation in Bengaluru on Saturday
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Chief Secretary Shalini Rajaneesh and others at a meeting on internal reservation in Bengaluru on SaturdayPhoto | Express
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BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who met leaders from the Scheduled Caste (SC) left the Madiga community -- including ministers KH Muniyappa and RB Timmapur at his residence Krishna here on Saturday, asked Chief Secretary Dr Shalini Rajneesh to list the classification of SC quota for discussion at the next cabinet meeting on October 24.

She will study the case of Tamil Nadu, which implemented the quota classification a long time ago by managing to get it included in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, and also the model in Haryana.

The cabinet meeting is likely to decide to set up a cabinet subcommittee to study the issue. The Supreme Court had ruled on August 1 this year that respective state governments can decide on the classification of SC quota. The cabinet subcommittee will recommend the distribution of quota among 101 different castes within the SC category, proportion to their population, sources told TNIE.

As the Congress high command wants to take credit for implementing the quota classification across all state governments ruled by the party simultaneously, Siddaramaiah said he will consult the party top brass, especially Rahul Gandhi, to initiate the process. He also promised to review the Justice AJ Sadashiva commission report on the same issue which was rejected by the previous Basavaraj Bommai government.

The then BJP government had later accepted the report submitted by a subcommittee headed by then law minister JC Madhu Swamy. This would mean that the present Congress government could nullify Madhu Swamy report and revisit Justice Sadashiva commission recommendations, a leader said.

At the meeting on Saturday, the SC left community leaders, including former Rajy Sabha member Dr L Hanumanthaiah and former minister H Anjaneya, convinced the CM about the urgency needed in implementing classified quota and insisted that the government should stall all recruitment processes in different departments till quota classification is implemented.

Ahead of the cabinet meeting on October 24, Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara will on October 21 hold a meeting of a committee of all SC community legislators, including those representing SC (right), Bhovis and Lambanis. They are likely to arrive at a consensus, making it easy for the CM to take a decision in the cabinet by ensuring that no community turns averse to the proposal.

Already, legislators with former minister and Malavalli MLA PM Narendraswamy as co-convener of the committee that includes minister Shivaraj Tangadagi and MLC Dr Sudham Das have held several rounds of deliberations.

“There are over 30,000 jobs for which the government has issued the notifications and if the classification of quota is not implemented as soon as possible, it will again result in injustice to these communities,” a leader said.

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