BSY, ST leaders meet to discuss quota rejig

The Valmiki community has been rallying for a hike in the ST quota from 3% to 7.5%

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa huddled with a group of Valmiki (ST) leaders from the party on Thursday morning and assured them that he would try to hike reservation for them.

The ST community, of which Valmikis are influential, are seen as an important support base for the BJP.

The Valmiki community led by Social Welfare Minister B Sreeramulu has been rallying for a hike in the ST quota from 3 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

“I had called them. I spoke to them. I said I'll try to do justice (to their demand) and that whatever that can be done within the legal and constitutional framework will be done,” Yediyurappa told reporters.

The meeting was attended by Sreeramulu, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, legislators Narasimha Nayak (Rajugouda) and Shivanagouda Naik among others.

According to sources, the leaders discussed the Justice Nagmohan Das Commission report, which examined hiking the SC quota from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and the ST quota from 3 per cent to 7.5 per cent. The Commission submitted its report in July 2020 reportedly favouring the hike.

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“We discussed the 7.5 per cent reservation among other things. It was a hopeful meeting,” Nayak told reporters. “The CM said he’d discuss it with legal experts and get a legal opinion. He assured us that he’d try to provide reservation based on who deserves how much."

The government has also constituted a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Sreeramulu to decide on revising the existing quota for SCs and STs.

At present, Karnataka provides 32 per cent reservation for OBCs, 15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs, totalling 50 per cent as capped by the Supreme Court. If the BJP government decides to go ahead with hiking the SC/ST quota, the 50 per cent cap will be breached, a legal quagmire.

The Cabinet is scheduled to meet later in the day where the reservation issue may come up for discussion. The Veerashaiva-Lingayats, the Panchamasali Lingayats and Kurubas are also seeking a revision in their quota.

“We’ll discuss it, let’s see. I can’t tell in advance what will happen in the Cabinet. There are many things that will be discussed,” Yediyurappa said.