Study on Panchamasali reservation far from complete

At present, the Panchamasalis come under Category 3B with a 5% quota. Under Category 2A, they will get a share in the 15% quota

Even as the Panchamasali Lingayat community has decided to up the ante for the 2A reservation demand, the report from the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes offering empirical basis to provide the quota is far from complete.

The Panchamasalis are said to be the numerically-stronger sub-group of the Lingayats, a community traditionally identified as the BJP’s support base.

At present, the Panchamasalis come under Category 3B with a 5 per cent quota. Under Category 2A, they will get a share in the 15 per cent quota.

The Commission is still compiling data on the social and educational status of the community and will begin another phase of field visits for the study from June 15.

Speaking to DH, Commission chairperson K Jayaprakash Hegde said though they are working to submit the report “at the earliest” there isn’t any deadline for the submission of the report. The Commission is still in the process of collecting data after which it has to be analysed.

The Supreme Court has sought comprehensive empirical data to determine reservation for communities. “We have to analyse the data thoroughly and submit the report. If the court doesn’t accept the report (for want of data), the whole process will be wasted,” he said.

Noting that the Panchamasali community is spread across the state, he said that empirical data from all districts is yet to be compiled. “The Commission has also written to all departments and institutions seeking employment data and caste distribution data of communities in educational institutions. We have received responses from 60 per cent of the departments, while the remaining departments are yet to,” Jayaprakash said.

Commission members visited 11 districts soon after a study on Panchamasalis was ordered more than a year ago. Following the visit, a few members came down with Covid, he said. “We will start visiting the remaining districts from June 15,” he said, adding that they would take 2-3 days to compile data from each district.

A report from the Commission was sought following an intense agitation by the Panchamasali community over reservation. The stir had unsettled the then chief minister B S Yediyurappa as other caste groups, too, started floating similar demands.

The government had also formed another panel headed by former High Court judge Justice Subhash B Adi to examine all reservation demands including that of Panchamasalis. “We will assess the demand once the backward classes commission submits its report,” he said.