Internal quota: Justice Nagamohan Das panel submits report to Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: The Justice Nagamohan Das Commission on Monday submitted its much-awaited report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on providing internal reservation to Scheduled Castes (SCs). 

Siddaramaiah said the report will be placed before the Cabinet this Thursday. If the government implements internal reservation, Karnataka will be the fourth state in the country after Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana to do so. 

At present, SCs have a 17% reservation in education and government jobs. The 1,766-page report of the Commission has six recommendations, and is expected to have given its view on dividing the 17% reservation basket for SCs among the SC (Left)/Madiga, SC (Right)/Holeya, ‘touchable’ communities including Bhovi, Lambani, Korma and Korcha and nomadic communities. 

With internal reservation being a decades-long struggle of the Madiga community, all eyes are on what share the Madigas will get, and whether it will be more/less than that of the Holeya community.

Justice Das told reporters that the two-month-long SCs’ survey (May 05 – July 06) had covered 27.24 lakh families and over 1.09 crore people in the state. “For the first time in the country, a survey was conducted using a mobile app,” he added. 

Quota matrix

According to a SC (Left) leader of the Congress, the internal reservation matrix might be 6.5% for SC (Left), 5.5% for SC (Right), 4% for ‘touchables’ and 1% for nomadic communities.

Incidentally, the commission submitted the report one year after a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court empowered states to decide on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The apex court’s judgment of August 1, 2024, has mandated that social and educational backwardness, and the lack of representation in government jobs should be considered as the guidelines to provide internal reservation.

Politically dicey

While Madigas have contended that internal reservation is necessary for their upliftment, the issue has for years been politically sensitive and has tricked ruling regimes. During the 2018 elections, it was analysed that many SC (Left) voters deserted the Congress, as it had not acted on the AJ Sadashiva Commission report recommending a sub-classification in the 15% reservation provided to SCs. 

The Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government formed a Cabinet sub-committee under the chairmanship of the then law minister J C Madhuswamy, which recommended hiking the reservation for SCs from 15 to 17%, and recommended 6% for SC (Left), 5.5% for SC (Right), 4.5% for ‘touchables’ and 1% for nomadic communities. 

However, the move was opposed by the ‘touchable’ and SC (Right) communities. This is said to have severely backfired for the BJP in the 2023 Assembly polls.