The Karnataka Assembly on Monday, December 26, passed a Bill enhancing reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in educational institutions and state government services. The Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, 2022, proposes to increase the quota for SCs from 15% to 17% and for STs from 3% to 7%. It will be sent to the Legislative Council for approval. The Act will increase the reservation quota to 56% in the state.
Minister of Law JC Madhuswamy appealed to the legislators to support the Bill, saying that the BJP government in the state was taking a risk by implementing it and pushing the quota to 50%. However, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah pointed out that the Bill must be brought under Schedule 9 of the Indian Constitution. Schedule 9 contains a list of Union and state laws that are protected from judicial review. It was invoked by Tamil Nadu to adopt 69% reservations in the state.
According to Deccan Herald, Siddaramaiah pointed out that former chief minister Verappa Moily had tried to increase the reservation quota to 73% but this had been struck down. He demanded that the new Bill be brought under Schedule 9, and said that the move must not be an election eyewash. Madhuswamy replied that even Schedule 9 does not guarantee freedom from judicial review, citing the example of Tamil Nadu. Other Congress leaders also expressed concern over the reservation quota exceeding 50%. The Congress has urged that an all-party delegation meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.
The ordinance to increase reservations came after the recommendations of the Justice HN Nagamohan Das Commission report, which said that the 50% cap could be exceeded in exceptional circumstances. The demand to implement the commission’s report was long standing, and the BJP government was under pressure to pass the Bill especially with Assembly elections closing in. Madhuswamy told the Assembly on Monday that representations will be made to the Union government to amend the Constitution to allow for 56% reservation.