BENGALURU: The State Cabinet has decided to discuss the Justice HN Nagamohan Das Commission’s report on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes on August 16. The report was submitted to the Cabinet on Thursday.
“The Commission has surveyed 92 per cent of the people of 101 SC communities. Copies of the report have been distributed to all the members of the Cabinet. Everyone will come to the special cabinet meeting after reading the report and participate in the discussion”, said Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil.
The ministers hailing from different SC communities, including Social Welfare Minister Dr HC Mahadevappa, Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara, Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa, Excise Minister RB Thimmapur, RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge and Backward Classes Development minister Shivaraj Tangadagi did not speak much about the report, according to sources.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah suggested the ministers to go through the report and come back for a positive debate in the special Cabinet.
The Congress government is seemingly under tremendous pressure with the leadership of SC Left community, which fought for internal reservation for over three decades, urging for the early implementation of the recommendations of the Commission as it was a year ago the Supreme Court, on Aug.1, 2024, pronounced that the states are constitutionally empowered to classify the SC quota.
However the Bhovi and Lambani communities’ leadership want the CM not to hurry. The government has to take a decision as it cannot go ahead with recruitment without implementing sub-classification of the SC quota.
The Commission has classified the 101 castes into A,B,C,D, E categories and allotted 1, 6, 5, 4 and 1 per cent each.
The SC Left aka Madiga caste has emerged as the largest with a population of 36,69,246 (34.91%) and the Commission has recommended a 6 per cent quota out of the 17 per cent SC quota under Category B.
While the SC Right with a population of 30,08,633 (28.63%) has been earmarked 5 per cent under Category C. Bhovi, Lambani, Koracha & Korama castes with 28,34,939 (26.97%) population allotted 4 per cent under Category D.
Category A comprised 59 microscopic castes with a population 5,22,099 (4.97 per cent) and Adi Karnataka and Under category E, Adi Dravida and Adi Andhra castes with 4,74, 954 (4.53%) population allotted 1 per cent each.
False claims as Bedga Jangama omitted:
In the Commission’s survey 1,07,01,982 people were found enumerated as different SC castes. Of which 1,77,662 people who were falsely claimed as Budga Jangama and Beda Jangama and 14,449 who were into inter-caste marriage but found not hailing from SC castes were omitted. The Commission considered the total SC population as 1,05, 09,871 to allocate the quota, as per the report.
In the 2011 Census the population of Beda Jagama was pegged at 1.17 lakh but in the 2025 survey 3.22 lakh claimed as SCs. Since their growth was not uniform across the state the Commission found something amiss and projected their population at 1.44 lakh which was taken into consideration. The Commission has allayed the fears of SC communities on the issue of false claims as Beda Jangama caste.
Cabinet decisions
Deferred the Karnataka Rohith Vemula (Prevention of Exclusion or Injustice) (Right to Education and Dignity) Bill, 2025, requiring further discussion
Decided to take Justice H N Nagmohandas commission survey of SCs as a model while conducting the OBC survey in September by developing a software to use Aadhaar for persons above six years of age and Epic cards
Relax the rules of 50% admission of minority students in institutions run by other than minorities
Administrative approval for the revised estimate of Rs 87.60 crore to establish 15 colleges for minority women
Amendment to Children Rights Protection Commission Act to fix minimum age of 40 for the chairperson and 35 for members
