Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday defended his government’s decision to hike reservation for minorities in the state’s housing projects from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
Siddaramaiah was responding to the Opposition BJP, which criticised the decision and described it as “minority appeasement”.
“This is based on the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities (2019), which clearly directs all central and state implementing agencies to earmark 15 per cent of physical and financial targets for minorities wherever possible. If this was unconstitutional or appeasement, why did the Union Government ask all states to follow it? Why is it being implemented under Central schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana?” Siddaramaiah said.
“Our decision does not grant blanket enhancement of quota across the state. It only addresses a specific implementation challenge. In many panchayats where the minority population is less than 10 per cent, the mandated 10 per cent earmarking could not be utilised. To ensure optimal use of the allocated targets and avoid lapses, we have allowed the gap from such panchayats to be reallocated to those with a higher minority population, subject to a cap of 15 per cent,” Siddaramaiah explained, adding that 34,000 landless minority families would benefit.
“We reject the politics of hatred and division being pushed by the BJP,” Siddaramaiah stated.