Get new certificates, Adi Karnataka, Adi Dravida and Adi Andhra castes told

Bengaluru: The social welfare department has issued a circular mandating persons from Adi Karnataka, Adi Dravida and Adi Andhra (AK, AD and AA) Scheduled Caste (SC) categories to obtain new caste certificates based on their original castes and the internal reservation category they belong to.

According to the state government’s 6:6:5 formula for internal reservation, 16 castes come under group A (6%), 19 castes come under group B (6%) and 63 castes come under group C (5%).

The government decided that the people who have registered under AK, AD and AA categories can avail of reservation benefits either under group A (Madiga and 15 affiliated castes) or group B (Holeya and 18 affiliated castes).

As per the circular, those registered as AK, AD and AA should specify their original caste while applying for new caste certificates. Their original castes will be ascertained through local inspections and added to either group A or B. 

However, candidates who don’t specify their original caste have to either choose group A or group B and provide an affidavit for the same.

"Whichever group (A or B) the candidate chooses will be permanent for them and their family members and cannot be changed at any cost," the circular adds.

Apart from AK, AD and AA, there are 98 castes categorised under groups A, B and C (overall 101 SC castes in Karnataka).

For these castes, the department has mandated taking steps to add the group alongside the caste in the Atal Ji Janasnehi Kendra software.

For those in the 98 SC castes applying for new certificates, a local inspection will be conducted of the candidate’s parents and their original caste before providing the caste certificate.