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K’taka govt okays ordinance to hike SC/ST quota
The ordinance once promulgated after the governor’s assent, will increase reservations for SCs from 15% to 17%and for STs from 3% to 7%. This will, however, take the reservation tally in Karnataka to 56%, above the 50% cap fixed by the Supreme Court.
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to promulgate an ordinance increasing the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) reservation in the state.
The state Cabinet had earlier on Saturday decided to issue an executive order increasing reservations for the SC/ST communities, however, following Thursday’s meeting the decision was changed to promulgate an ordinance.
The Cabinet on October 8 accorded its formal approval to increase the SC/ST quota.
Talking about the change in the decision to promulgate an ordinance instead of an executive order, state law minister J C Madhuswamy said: “We had earlier felt that executive decision would be enough, but later realised that if it is questioned in a court of law, it may lead to issues, so we have decided to bring in an ordinance.”
Meanwhile, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai took to Twitter to announce the same. He said:”Today my cabinet has taken an historic descision of approving the ordinance on hiking the reservation for my brothers and sisters from SC/ST community, from 15% to 17% and 3% to 7%. This historic decision will bring light and shine into their lives and uplift them by providing adequate opportunity in education and employment”.
The ordinance once promulgated after the governor’s assent, will increase reservations for SCs from 15% to 17%and for STs from 3% to 7%. This will, however, take the reservation tally in Karnataka to 56%, above the 50% cap fixed by the Supreme Court.
Hence the government would recommend bringing the quota hike under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution to give it legal protection, in the days to come. “Following the decision to enhance the SC/ST reservation, we introduced a bill to this effect before the cabinet, and it was decided to send it to the governor to promulgate an ordinance,” law minister J C Madhuswamy said.
The Cabinet decided to increase the quota based on a report of a committee headed by retired high court judge HN Nagmohan Das, which recommended increasing reservations for SCs from 15% to 17%, and for STs from 3% to 7%.
The ordinance justifies the hike in reservation with a detailed note citing various sections of the Constitution, Madhuswamy said. “We have stressed that there were only six castes in Karnataka under SC earlier, to which now 103 castes, nomads and slum-dwellers have been added, so the population has enormously raised, and as the Constitution calls for adequate representation we will have to give about 17% reservation for SCs, hence the decision,” he explained.
Following an all-party meeting on October 8, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah had welcomed the government’s decision. “Since there is a BJP government in the state and Centre, they have to put pressure and implement it,” he had said.
VS Ugrappa, a former Congress MP and member of the Valmiki Nayak community said there will be a legal hurdle for the reservation to go through since there is a Supreme Court ceiling on reservations at 50%. As done by Tamil Nadu to increase the quota to 69%, the Karnataka government might seek a constitutional amendment for the quota provisions to be included in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, he said.
“They have to bring a bill wherein they have to assign reasons and make provisions as per the Indira Sawhney Supreme Court case, which specified that only under exceptional circumstances, on the basis of data, reservation can be enhanced from an upper limit of 50%,” Ugrappa said.
