BENGALURU: Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa on Tuesday said the Madiga community (SC Left) is in shock over the government failing to implement internal reservation in recruitment for 56,000 vacancies in government departments. Addressing a joint press conference with Excise Minister RB Thimmapur and former RS member Dr L Hanumanthaiah, he hoped that Thursday’s cabinet meeting would take a decision to implement internal quota for SCs.
As protesting youths mounted pressure on the government, the last cabinet meeting decided to fill vacancies by adhering to 50 per cent quota, with several cases pending before court. Meanwhile, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot had given his nod for the 17 per cent internal reservation Bill, with 6 per cent each for SC Left and SC Right, and 5 per cent for others, including Bovis and Lambanis.
“At the last cabinet meeting, we had insisted on implementing internal reservation of 15% during recruitment. We had also met CM Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar, who promised to bring it before the cabinet again,” Muniyappa said, adding that Siddaramaiah has stood firm while implementing internal reservation. “Our community is shocked because internal reservation is not being implemented, though there has been a continuous struggle for 35-40 years. It resulted in the Supreme Court decision allowing states to implement internal reservation,” he remarked.
He said though the Justice HN Nagamohan Das Commission was a little late in submitting its report, ministers from SC communities had reached a consensus on it.
Minister Thimmapur said a decision is likely at the cabinet meeting on Thursday. “Our young friends from the community are panicking but there is no need to launch a struggle against the government immediately,” he suggested.
