The Karnataka cabinet on Friday approved internal reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) within the 15% quota, paving the way to resume the recruitment process for 56,000 government posts. The decision was announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after a special cabinet meeting.
New Reservation Formula
Under the new formula, 5.25% each has been allocated to Left and Right groups (Category A and Category B), while 4.5% has been set aside for touchable communities and others (Category C). "With this, the recruitment process, which has been on hold since February, will restart immediately," the chief minister said.
The chief minister noted that the party has fulfilled another promise from its manifesto for the 2023 assembly elections, as internal reservation was a key pledge.
Background and Legal Hurdles
In February, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot approved a 17% SC quota, but the government chose to reduce it to 15% after some groups approached the court. Earlier, the government had finalized 6% each for Category A and Category B, and 5% for Category C.
A dispute arose after some members belonging to nomadic groups moved court, which directed the government not to breach the 50% ceiling on total reservation. "We recently constituted a technical committee headed by Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh to examine legal validity, implementation feasibility, and administrative guidelines for recruitment. The committee submitted its report on Friday. Based on it, we have finalized internal reservation," the chief minister explained.
Unanimous Cabinet Decision
The cabinet decision was unanimous, with ministers from the SC community—KH Muniyappa, RB Timmapur, Shivaraj Tangadagi, G Parameshwara, Priyank Kharge, and HC Mahadevappa—agreeing to the formula.
"We have provided 20% reservation from within the 5% allocated to Category C for the 63 nomadic and semi-nomadic sub-castes," said Siddaramaiah, explaining that one in every five posts goes to this category.
Future Plans
The chief minister said the government would look at providing a 17% quota for SCs and 7% for STs soon after the case pending in the high court is resolved.
