Karnataka's reservation storm: Inside the faultlines behind the 56% quota fight

Two directives by the Karnataka High Court have put the Congress government in a tight spot. 

On October 16, the court directed the government not to finalise recruitments that are being done following the implementation of internal reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) in 6-6-5 formula. 

On December 2, the court barred the government from making fresh recruitment as per the 56% reservation in the state. This has left the government worried about ramifications, legal and political.   

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah chaired a closed-door meeting on the matter on Saturday.    

In 2022, the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government increased reservations for SCs from 15% to 17% and for STs from 3% to 7%.

This took the total quantum of reservations to 56%, breaching the 50% cap fixed by the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney case. 

States like Tamil Nadu (69%) and Jharkhand (77%), which have breached the 50% cap, enjoy legal protection as their decisions are ring-fenced by the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.

Of late, courts have insisted on the 50% cap. When the Bihar government sought to increase reservations share in the state to 65%, the decision was struck down by the HC there. The Supreme Court hasn’t stayed the HC’s ruling. 

Similarly, the Telangana HC imposed a stay on the state government’s decision to hike OBC reservations by breaching the 50% cap. On October 16, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea by the Telangana government challenging the HC’s stay. 

Against this backdrop, there are serious concerns that Karnataka’s 56% reservation may get struck down. 

However, some experts questioned the logic behind the courts’ insistence on 50% quota. They say the BJP-led union government’s decision to introduce 10% quota for economically weaker sections also breached the 50% mark.

The issue of increasing quota share to 56% is intrinsically linked to internal reservation dispute, as the 6-6-5 formula of the government is based on the new 17% reservation for SCs. 

The 17% reservation for SCs is divided into three parts: 6% for group A (SC left/Madigas), 6% for group B (SC right/Holeya) and 5% for group C (Banjara, Bhovi, Korma, Korcha and 'most backward' communities). 

Opposing this 6-6-5 formula, which grouped 59 ‘most backward' communities with the ‘less backward’ Lambani, Bhovi, Korma and Korcha communities, the confederation of untouchable SC communities of Karnataka has moved the HC.

The nomadic communities have been relentlessly protesting against the decision and seeking a separate 1% reservation as proposed by the 1-6-5-4-1 formula recommended by the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission’s report, which oversaw a survey of SCs to decide on internal quota. They have also sought a separate board for nomadic communities and special package. 

Though the government has agreed to their demands ‘in-principle,’ the confederation is disillusioned by the government’s failure to fulfil its demands, and has warned of a stir at the winter session of legislature in Belagavi.

Sources said the government is considering many options, including a return to the earlier 15% quota for SCs. A source termed the potential quota reversal as ‘inevitable’ under current quota constraints.

Congress leader and former social welfare minister H Anjaneya, who hails from Madiga community, told DH that in the event of a return to 15% quota model, the formula suggested by A J Sadashiva Commission (6% for Madiga & affiliated communities, 5% for Holeyas & affiliated communities, 3% for Bhovi, Lambani, Korma and Korcha castes and 1% reservation for nomadic communities) was preferable. 

Earlier, the government had planned to introduce a Bill supporting it’s 6-6-5 formula for internal reservation, in winter session. This is now uncertain.