Bengaluru, Oct. 7: In a major decision ahead of the Assembly polls a few months away, the BJP government in Karnataka on Friday decided to increase the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/STs) quota in the state, by seeking a Constitutional amendment.
The decision has been taken by the government on the basis of the report of Justice H N Nagamohan Das Commission, which has 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.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai made an announcement to this effect after chairing an all-party meeting that was attended by Congress and JD(S) leaders.
Noting that it was a “long-standing and a just demand” from the communities that the reservation should be based on population, he said, “The Nagamohan Das Commission’s recommendations were discussed at the all party meeting today and has been approved. Before that it was discussed within our party (BJP) where it was decided to keep up our commitment for the welfare of SC/STs.”
The Cabinet meeting will be convened on Saturday itself, where a formal decision will be taken in this connection, he added.
The Bommai government was under tremendous pressure from SC/ST lawmakers to implement the commission’s report. Also, the ‘Valmiki Gurupeetha’ seer Prasannananda Swami has been on a hunger strike demanding the ST quota hike.
The opposition parties, especially the Congress had been attacking the government for the delay in implementation. Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, also another former CM and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy attended the all party meet. The decision is also being seen by some with a political prism with Assembly elections due in about six months.
