BENGALURU: When the Karnataka cabinet meets on Friday, it is likely to discuss enhancement of the backward classes quota from 32 per cent to 51 per cent, one of the key recommendations of the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission headed by Jayaprakash Hedge. The commission had submitted the report, including recommendations based on the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey-2015 (SES-2015), to the government.
Friday’s meeting will not exclusively discuss the SES-2015, which is one of the subjects on the agenda. The cabinet may agree on enhancement of quota, with an argument that there are no legal hurdles, and lob the ball into the Centre’s court for its approval.
“Under the changing circumstances, the government has enhanced reservation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from 18 per cent to 24 per cent. Consequently, 56 per cent of reservation exists in the state. The Central government has implemented 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
Therefore, the point that reservation quota should be confined at 50 per cent, as contended in the case (Indira Sawhney vs Union of India and others) filed before the Supreme Court is not in place,” the commission clarified in its report. Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand have adopted the reservation ceiling, enhancing it to 69 per cent and 77 per cent respectively, based on the population, it noted.
One of the key recommendations is to apply the policy of creamy layer to all BC categories which may come up for discussion, according to sources.
The enhancement of quota from 4 to 6 per cent for Category-1A (including nomadic and semi-nomadic castes), 7 to 12 per cent for Category-1B (Kurubas & others), 7 to 10 per cent for Category-2A (Other Backward Classes), 5 to 8 per cent for Category-2B (Muslims & sub-castes), 4 to 7 per cent for Category-3A (Vokkaligas & others) and 5 to 8 per cent for Category-3B (Lingayats and others) was recommended.
There might be a dispute in the restructuring of quota and shifting Kurubas from 2A to 1B, but ministers are unlikely to confront the Chief Minister, who also hails from the Kuruba community, a leader observed. In the last cabinet meeting, however, DCM DK Shivakumar had made an indirect reference, according to a source.
Both Hegde, who made recommendations while submitting the report in 2024, and former chairman of the commission H Kantharaju, under whose leadership the SES-2015 was conducted, defended restructuring of the quota. They attributed it to the analysis done on the data and marks given to communities based on their socio-economic and educational backwardness.
In a changed scenario, since the Centre has announced the national census including caste census, it is to be seen whether the Vokkaliga and Veerashaiva Lingayat communities’ leadership continue to press the state government for a fresh survey or not, according to analysts. They were disputing the SES-2015 as their numbers are undercounted.
Meanwhile, the ministers who had studied the data furnished to them are likely to submit their opinion on SES-2015 confidentially, but in writing to the CM, who has given them this option.