Only parents' income key for OBC quota: K'taka Backward Classes Commission chief

Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes chairperson K Jayaprakash Hegde on Wednesday said that the income of parents will be considered while determining eligibility for reservation in jobs.

“At present, for the purpose of issuing caste or income certificates to backward classes, the total income of parents and spouse is considered as per the state’s creamy layer policy. This led to confusion while issuing certificates to candidates seeking reservation in employment,” Hegde said.

“To address this, it has been decided to consider only parental income for reservation in employment as per union government and court decisions,” he said.

Hegde also said a decision has been made to issue caste certificates to communities under the creamy layer for all purposes except educational and employment reservation.

On according Category 2A status to the Panchamasali Lingayat community, Hegde said the Commission cannot submit its final report in a hurry. “We have already submitted an interim report to the government. The final report isn’t ready. As per the rules, the Commission has travelled to various places to study the social and educational status of the community, all of which are to be examined. We can’t give a report in a hurry,” he explained.

Hegde said the Vokkaliga Sangha’s petition seeking a hike in a reservation is under examination.

Quota for orphans

The Commission has asked the government to provide reservation to orphan children under Category-1, Hegde said. “We have made this recommendation. Telangana and Maharashtra are providing reservation to orphan children. We visited several orphanages in the state to collect information before making the recommendation. A special report has been submitted to the government,” he said.

According to Hegde, the Commission has received 133 petitions from various communities seeking OBC reservation. “On this, 34 reports are ready and 42 are pending. On the remaining 57, previous commissions have already submitted reports to the government,” he said.