The Karnataka cabinet on Monday decided to constitute a commission , which will be tasked with collecting empirical data necessary for providing internal reservation among Scheduled Castes (SC). The commission, which will be chaired by a retired high court judge, is expected to submit recommendations within three months, state’s law and parliamentary affairs minister HK Patil said.
The minister said that the Congress government in the state has decided to postpone all upcoming recruitments until the commission submits its report.
“The Cabinet has agreed to appoint a commission headed by a retired judge and seek recommendations on the next steps to be taken. We will ask the commission to submit its recommendations within three months. Till then, no new notification for public employment will be issued,” he told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
The need for internal quota gained traction following a recent Supreme Court order. In a landmark verdict on August 1, the top court held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and educationally more backward.
“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent verdict regarding internal reservation among SCs, the Cabinet today (Monday) gave its approval to provide internal reservation among SCs,” the minister said.
{{/usCountry}}“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent verdict regarding internal reservation among SCs, the Cabinet today (Monday) gave its approval to provide internal reservation among SCs,” the minister said.
{{/usCountry}}A section of Scheduled Castes has been demanding internal reservation alleging that only a few influential sub-castes were taking away a majority of the benefits while many communities were still marginalised.
State’s social welfare minister HC Mahadevappa said the need to constitute a fresh commission arose as the previous BJP-led government had rejected the Justice AJ Sadashiva Commission report in 2022. The one-man commission will have to either refer to national census data for internal reservation or compile data on its own. “Right now, the Census has no data on internal reservation,” he said during the press briefing.
Mahadevappa said that gathering empirical data before moving forward with any new reservation policies was important. “All sections of SCs are in favour of internal reservation, but they have said do it by gathering data... so we have decided to form the commission,” he noted.
The cabinet’s decision to form a panel marks a significant shift in the government’s approach to internal reservation, particularly following the rejection of the Justice Sadashiva Commission’s report in 2022. The panel had recommended an internal reservation system based on a classification of 101 castes into four groups, suggesting specific quotas for each group to ensure fair representation.
The BJP was yet to issue a statement on the late-night cabinet decision, which comes ahead of the assembly bypolls.