E-Paper
No community will be removed from SC list: CM amid protests
On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered on the Shivamogga-Shikaripur highway and stopped the vehicles near Kunchenahalli The police also arrested three people, including a Congress leader, and booked 22 people in connection with the violence
Bengaluru
Amid protests by the Banjara community over internal reservation recommended by the state government to the Centre, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said there is no question of removing any community from the Scheduled Castes list.
Bommai slammed the Congress for orchestrating the violence and misleading the community, stressing that the Banjara, Bhovi and Koracha communities will continue to remain on the SC list. “Along with evidence, all the information has been shared with the Government of India and those communities will remain on the SC list,” Bommai reiterated.
On Monday, massive protests erupted in former chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s constituency Shikaripur of Shivamogga district over internal reservation recommended by the state government to the Centre. The Banjara community members pelted stones at the residence of Yediyurappa in Shikaripur and clashed with the police.
On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters gathered on the Shivamogga-Shikaripur highway and stopped the vehicles near Kunchenahalli The police also arrested three people, including a Congress leader, and booked 22 people in connection with the violence.
Targeting the ruling party, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said internal differences in the BJP resulted in protests outside Yediyurappa’s residence in Shikaripur.
“This is an internal difference in the BJP which has exploded now. BJP leaders want to finish off BS Yediyurappa due to which they have pelted stones,” Shivakumar said. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah said that it is the handiwork of the BJP.
The protesters are opposing the state government’s move to implement the Justice AJ Sadashiva Commission’s report on internal reservation among the SCs.
In a cabinet meeting held on Friday, the Basavaraj Bommai-led government recommended a new breakup of the reservation for Scheduled Castes in education and jobs. Out of the 17% reservation for the SC community, the state cabinet has recommended a 6% internal quota for SC (left), 5.5% for SC (right), 4.5% for touchable (Banjara, Bhovi, Korcha, Kuruma, etc.) and 1% for others.
With the implementation of the new reservation, members of the Banjara community fear that they would be omitted from the SC list going forward, thereby depriving them of reservation. Experts also pointed out that the Banjaras, who are relatively well-educated compared to the SC(left) and SC(right) and were reaping most of the reservation benefits, are concerned as their share of reservation is now limited to 4.5%.
