All communities come under general merit, says Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday downplayed concerns that the increase in SC/ST reservation would eat into the general merit space.

“No one will face injustice,” Bommai told reporters after a special Cabinet meeting where it was decided to hike SC/ST reservation in Karnataka.

“And, who is ‘general quota’? All of us are under the general quota,” Bommai insisted. “For example, when a Scheduled Caste candidate gets the same marks as a general merit candidate, then s/he gets selected under general merit. All communities are under general merit. The pool belongs to all. So, there won’t be injustice,” he maintained.

On Friday, after an all-party meeting, Law Minister JC Madhuswamy admitted that the hike in SC/ST quota would cause trouble “to some extent” for the general category.

The special Cabinet meeting also decided to set up a separate development corporation for the Alemari (nomadic) communities as recommended by the Justice HN Nagmohan Das Commission.

Pandora's Box

There are reservation-related demands made by various other communities: The Panchamasali Lingayats want to come under Category 2A (they are now under Category 3B), Kurubas want to come under ST (they are now OBC), the Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas want to be included in the central OBC list.

But, Madhuswamy said the government wanted to first act on the SC/ST quota hike demand as "we had promised them" and "we didn't want to open a Pandora's Box".

He maintained that the government would discuss other demands. "It's just that there's no scientific report about their demands before us," he said. "We have admissions (education) and appointments (jobs) to be done. There were cries that SC/STs aren't getting enough opportunities," he said.

Panel for internal reservation

A committee under the law minister will be constituted to submit a report on providing reservation within SCs and STs, the Cabinet decided.

"The Nagmohan Das Commission has quoted the Justice AJ Sadashiva Commission's report on giving internal reservation. We will study who should get how much internal reservation on a pro-rata basis," Madhuswamy said.

The Sadashiva Commission, in 2012, recommended reclassification of the SCs into four groups - right, left, touchables and other SCs - for equitable distribution of reservation.

Bommai said the Nagmohan Das Commission had pointed out that bottom-most communities had not received reservation benefits. "There are many Supreme Court judgements on internal reservation. We will take everybody into confidence before making a decision," he said.