Karnataka to hike SC/ST quota via Constitutional amendment

In a major policy move, the BJP government decided Friday to increase the SC/ST quota in Karnataka for which a Constitutional amendment would be sought.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced this after chairing an all-party meeting with Congress and JD(S) leaders where the Justice HN Nagmohan Das Commission’s report was discussed.

The commission, in July 2020, recommended hiking the quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent.

“This demand was long-pending and just. As envisioned in the Constitution, reservation should be based on population,” Bommai said.

The Cabinet will be convened to meet Saturday where a formal decision will be taken, Bommai said.

The BJP government was under tremendous pressure from SC/ST lawmakers to implement the commission’s report. Valmiki Gurupeetha seer Prasannananda Swami has been on a hunger strike demanding the ST quota hike.

The only way for Karnataka to hike the SC/ST quota is via the Schedule 9 route.

At present, Karnataka provides 32 per cent reservation for OBCs, 15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs, totalling to 50 per cent.

Increasing the SC/ST quota will take the reservation tally to 56 per cent, which will go against the ceiling fixed by the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney judgement.

“If reservation exceeds 50 per cent, then courts will take umbrage. There’s an SC decision saying reservation in the states shouldn’t exceed 50 per cent. But some states have exceeded the ceiling and there’s a provision to do that under special circumstances,” Law Minister JC Madhuswamy explained.

“We will introduce this through Schedule 9, which has judicial immunity. Even Tamil Nadu went through Schedule 9 to increase reservation to 69 per cent. We will recommend the union government to amend the Constitution,” Madhuswamy added.

After the Cabinet formally decides on the matter, it will be placed before the legislature session in December. “Should we introduce a Bill in the legislature or pass a resolution? We will decide that,” Madhuswamy said.

The minister also pointed out that hiking the SC/ST quota would eat into the general category space “to some extent”.

“Reservation in Karnataka is already on the borderline. It’s difficult to rejig quotas within the 50 per cent. We’ll have to reduce the OBC quota by six percentage points, which nobody will tolerate. So, to exceed 50 per cent, it must be done via Schedule 9,” he said.

Former chief ministers Siddaramaiah of the Congress and HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) among other Opposition leaders attended the all-party meeting.

On Thursday, Congress leaders, including its former national chief Rahul Gandhi, slammed the BJP government for being indecisive on the Justice Nagmohan Das Commission report.