BANGALORE: In a key decision ahead of the Assembly eletions a few months away, the BJP-led government of Karnataka on Friday determined to increase the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/STs) quota in the state, by seeking a Constitutional amendment.

The government made the decision in light of Justice H N Nagamohan Das Commission's report, which suggested raising the quotas for SCs and STs from 3 percent to 7 percent and 15 percent to 17 percent, respectively.
After presiding over an all-party meeting that was attended by leaders of the Congress and JD(S), Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai released a statement to this effect.

The Nagamohan Das Commission's recommendations were addressed at the all-party meeting today and were adopted, he said, adding that this had been a "long-standing and just demand" from the communities. Prior to that, it was agreed to maintain our commitment to the welfare of SC/STs within our party (BJP). A formal decision in this regard will be made during the Cabinet meeting, which will be held on Saturday, he added.

The SC/ST parliamentarians put a lot of pressure on the Bommai government to implement the commission's report. Prasannananda Swami, a seer from the "Valmiki Gurupeetha," has also been on a hunger strike in support of increasing the ST quota. The government has been under fire from the opposition parties, particularly the Congress, over the implementation delay.

In July 2020, the commission had provided the government with its recommendations.

However, after a few rulings from the Supreme Court regarding reservations, the government set up a committee headed by Justice Subhash B. Adi to oversee the implementation of the recommendations in accordance with the law and the Constitution, and that committee also submitted its report later.

The government convened the all-party conference today after reviewing both reports in order to gain everyone's trust before making a decision about the law and the Constitution, according to Bommai.

Currently, Karnataka offers a 50 percent reservation for OBCs, 32 percent for SCs, 15 percent for SCs, and 3 percent for STs; the only method to increase the SC/ST quota before Karnataka is through the Schedule 9 route.
Law Minister J. C. Madhuswamy said there is a SC judgement that states' reservations shouldn't exceed 50 percent, but some states have gone beyond the limit and there is a mechanism to do it under extraordinary circumstances. He noted that if the reservation reaches 50 percent, then courts will take exception.

"Schedule 9 will be used to introduce it because it enjoys judicial immunity. To raise the percentage of reservation to 69 percent, Tamil Nadu took action under Schedule 9. We will suggest amending the Constitution to the Union government, he said. In response to a question, the Minister stated that "raising the SC/ST quota and going beyond 50 percent will somewhat reduce the space available for general categories.

It will be challenging to rejig quotas within the 50 percent because reservations in Karnataka are already on the precipice, he said. Nobody will accept a six percentage point reduction in the OBC quota if we are forced to do it. Therefore, using Schedule 9 is required to exceed 50 percent. Siddaramaiah, the head of the opposition and a former chief minister, and H. D. Kumaraswamy, a former chief minister and leader of the JD(S), both attended the all-party meeting. 

Due to the impending Assembly elections in around six months, some people are also viewing the decision through a political lens.

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