State Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday dismissed speculation of divisions within the ruling Congress over internal reservation under the Scheduled Castes quota, saying the government would take a final decision in the next Cabinet meeting after resolving some technicalities.
“There are no factions at all. There are no factions. Where is the issue of factions? Different people express different opinions. Just because someone expresses an opinion does not mean it becomes a faction,” Parameshwara told reporters.
He said that discussions were continuing within the government on how to proportionately distribute reservation among sub-groups under the Scheduled Castes category after the overall reservation ceiling was reduced from 56% to 50% following the court’s directions.
The remarks come days after the state cabinet postponed a decision on implementing internal reservation under the Scheduled Castes quota, saying the matter requires further deliberations.
State Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patel said the government is still committed to implementing the internal reservation, but it needs to clarify the legal aspects before reaching a final decision.
“The government is committed to implementing internal reservation. Discussion on the issue has continued. 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 the issue could not be fully discussed during the previous Cabinet meeting.
Parameshwara said the earlier proposal was formulated after the Nagammohan Das report when the overall reservation was 56%. Under this framework, three internal categories have been created within the Scheduled Castes quota – 6% for Left communities, 6% for Right communities and 5% for Others.
However, he said the court’s reaffirmation of the 50% ceiling on reservations in the Indra Sawhney judgment means that the previous formula now needs to be recalculated. “Based on this arrangement, the 6% for Left SC, 6% for Left SC and 5% for classification (‘Afflicted’/Others) that we did earlier now needs to be recalculated proportionately after reducing the total reservation to 50%. We need to work out how to distribute the reservation proportionately,” he said.
The government is also ensuring that any revised arrangement will not create confusion in the reservation list system or affect promotions, the minister said.
This issue involves several communities, including the Bovis, Lambanes, Curachas, Curamas, and nomadic groups. Discussions also included demands to create a separate reservation category for nomadic communities. “Keeping all these aspects in mind, we will take a final decision in the next Cabinet meeting,” Parameshwara said.
He added that the government must finalize the reservation categories before issuing employment notifications for more than 56,000 jobs announced in the state budget.
“When we issue the notification, we have to clearly define the reservation categories. We cannot announce the reservation after issuing the notification. For example, if we announce 10,000 entries, we have to specify in advance how many entries go to which category. We are currently working on these details technically,” he said.
Parameshwara’s remarks come at a time when the BJP has announced a rally against the state government over the issue of reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Former MLA P Rajeev said the protest will seek justice for the oppressed communities. Speaking at a preparatory meeting on Sunday, he said the march will start in Chitradurga on March 22 and reach Bengaluru on March 27, when protesters plan to lay siege to Vidhana Soudha.
“The movement will be launched from Chitradurga on March 22. It will reach Bengaluru on March 27. We will lay siege to Vidhana Soudha on that day. One lakh (100,000) people will join on the opening day. The government must come to us on the first day and provide justice to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Otherwise, the struggle will intensify day by day,” he said.
Holalkere MLA Dr M Chandrappa accused the Congress government of creating confusion over reservation. “The BJP government has increased reservation for SC and ST communities, in recognition of their three-decade-long struggle. But the Congress government is suppressing our voices. The increase in reservation was Ambedkar’s contribution, not Siddaramaiah’s,” former minister P Sriramulu said.
