The Karnataka government on Thursday postponed a decision on implementing internal reservation under the Scheduled Castes quota.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said the government remains committed to implementing internal reservation but needs further deliberations before arriving at a final decision.
“The government is committed to implementing the internal reservation. The discussion on this issue is ongoing. The matter will be discussed further in the next Cabinet meeting. The government will decide on when to hold the meeting,” Patel said, adding that there is a need for clarification on the legal aspects. He said the decision was postponed because the issue could not be fully discussed during Thursday’s meeting.
Responding to questions about the recruitment notifications issued by the government, Patel said: “Nothing has changed. Discussion on any issue is ongoing,” without providing further details.
The Cabinet meeting was expected to decide how internal reservation would be distributed within the Scheduled Castes category. However, divisions within the government and new demands from certain groups complicated the process.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister G Parameshwara said the government had already agreed in principle to introduce internal reservation but concerns had emerged over how it would be implemented. “The government has already agreed to provide internal reservation. However, problems have arisen regarding confusion in the distribution of this reservation. There is concern that while preparing the list, a certain category may get a higher share of reservation,” he said.
The state had earlier decided to allocate 17% internal reservation under the Scheduled Castes category. Recently, there has been a demand for a separate 1% quota for nomadic communities known as Almarais.
“It was earlier decided to provide 17% internal reservation to the SC community. However, there is now a demand to provide a separate 1% reservation for nomadic communities (Alimaris). The court also kept the 56% reservation limit,” Parameshwara said.
Last year, the Cabinet approved internal reservation covering 101 caste groups based on a 1,766-page report prepared by the Justice Das Committee.
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, Dalit ministers met on Wednesday to try to build consensus on the issue, which has caused divisions within the Scheduled Caste community and the Cabinet. Minister KH Muniappa said the ministers also held discussions with Mallikarjun Kharge regarding implementation of internal reservation. “Fair and balanced sharing of reservations among the SCs will be discussed with the Prime Minister,” Muniappa said.
Controversies have emerged over the government’s move to start recruitment for 56,432 posts while adhering to a maximum reservation of 50% and without implementing internal reservation under Scheduled Caste quotas.
Ministers allied with right-wing Dalit groups opposed the implementation of internal reservation within the 15% quota for Scheduled Castes, while Dalit Left ministers argued that the internal reservation formula should work within the same quota.
Responding to the criticism, Minister Priyank Karg pointed to the ongoing legal challenges. He said, “The government, which supports social justice, stopped the recruitment process before establishing the internal quota matrix. Based on the empirical data, the Legislative Council passed a law. How do we oppose internal reservation? If someone goes to court, is it the government’s fault? There are a total of six cases in court.”
Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has urged the government to implement internal reservation while filling vacant posts. The party’s Karnataka president P Vijayendra warned that protests may follow if recruitment continues without the demand being processed.
“Whether you fill 50,000 vacancies or 100,000 posts is up to you (Karnataka CM). Our demand is to fill all the vacant posts. The BJP government has increased internal reservation to 56% to ensure justice to all communities. Accordingly, these vacant posts should be filled by considering internal reservation for the oppressed and marginalized communities,” he said.
“You (Karnataka CM) repeatedly do injustice to these communities. If you have little concern for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, don’t cite court-related excuses – provide employment and justice,” he added.
