Internal quota: Equitable move or political math?

As per the government’s decision, which has already been implemented and a new roster created, the 17% reservation meant for SCs is divided into three categories: Group A – Madiga and affiliated castes (6%), Group B – Holeya and affiliated castes (6%) and Group C – 59 nomadic and semi-nomadic communities, and Lambani, Bhovi, Korma and Korcha communities (5%).

Amid widespread criticism over its 6:5:5 formula for internal reservation to Scheduled Castes (SCs), the state government has stood its ground, arguing that only 23 of the 59 nomadic and semi-nomadic communities are most backward, and that communities such as Banjara and Bhovi are more backward than the Nagamohan Das Commission’s estimates.

As per the government’s decision, which has already been implemented and a new roster created, the 17 per cent reservation meant for SCs is divided into three categories: Group A – Madiga and affiliated castes (6 per cent), Group B – Holeya and affiliated castes (6 per cent) and Group C – 59 nomadic and semi-nomadic communities, and Lambani, Bhovi, Korma and Korcha communities (5 per cent).

A state government commissioned study, conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), has looked into the educational, economic and employment status of the SC communities.

Based on the study, the 101 SC communities have been classified into three groups unlike the five groups as recommended by the Justice Nagamohan Das report. The first group includes 35 relatively forward castes while the second group has 33 more backward castes, and the third has 33 castes that are even more backward. 

Only 23 communities in the third group belong to the nomadic and semi-nomadic communities. 

A government source told DH that the study conducted by the government and ISEC analysed the same data collected by the Das Commission.

Yet, there is a difference in the classification of the castes and this is being viewed as a political move rather than scientific analysis.

K N Lingappa, a former member of the Backward Classes Commission, slammed the government’s move and questioned why the commission was formed if the government had already decided. “The Das Commission, which recommended 1% reservation for the nomadic communities, largely adhered to the parameters set by the Supreme Court in the Davinder Singh vs State of Punjab case. So, why change it now?  This is clearly a political decision,” he argued.