Karnataka set to notify 10% economically weaker section quota soon

The Karnataka government will soon issue a notification giving effect to a 10% reservation in the state's civil services and educational institutions for people from the economically-weaker sections (EWS), or upper castes.

"An order will be issued in a week. It will ensure 10% reservation to EWS from communities that were not provided reservation till now," Backward Classes Welfare Minister Kota Sreenivas Poojary told DH.

It will be applicable for students seeking admissions in institutes of higher education, he pointed out. "Till now, the quota was applicable only for central government jobs. Now, the state government has also approved the policy," Poojary said.

Following the notification, families from upper castes with an annual income of below Rs 8 lakh can avail certificates classifying them under the EWS category.

While the Centre has published a list of communities that can avail benefits under EWS category, Karnataka will list all communities that come under the category in the upcoming notification.

The Constitution (103rd amendment) Act, 2019, enables people from EWS to claim reservation that is currently available only for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes.

In January 2019, the Centre notified that 10% reservation would be provided in central government jobs and in admissions to educational institutions under the Centre for EWS persons whose family has a gross annual income below Rs 8 lakh.

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the EWS reservation, more than two years after the Centre introduced it.

That the government was dragging its feet came up for discussion in the Legislative Assembly in March. Law Minister Basavaraj Bommai told the Assembly that the government would issue a fresh order on EWS reservation as an earlier order had left out several communities.

There were also complaints that some communities availing reservations under various other categories were listed under EWS also, forcing the government to revise the list of eligible communities.

Check out DH's latest videos: