According to the Bill, the 17 percent reservation is divided among 101 communities: six percent reservation for SC left, six percent reservation for SC right and five percent reservation for touchable communities.
Published Dec 18, 2025 | 8:13 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 18, 2025 | 8:13 AM
Reservation. (Representative Image.)
Synopsis: The Karnataka government tabled the Karnataka Scheduled Castes (Sub-Categorisation) Bill, 2025, that aims to formally legalise the state’s internal reservation matrix for SCs in education and employment. The state government issued an official order to implement internal reservations in August based on the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee report.
The Karnataka government on Wednesday, 17 December, tabled the Karnataka Scheduled Castes (Sub-Categorisation) Bill, 2025, that aims to formally legalise the state’s internal reservation matrix for SCs in education and employment.
According to the Bill, the 17 percent reservation is divided among 101 communities: six percent reservation for SC left, six percent reservation for SC right and five percent reservation for touchable communities.
The state government issued an official order to implement internal reservations in August based on the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee report.
A one-member commission of Justice Nagamohan Das had submitted a report to the state government, recommending internal reservation for various SC communities based on their population.
The Karnataka Cabinet had on 20 August approved an internal reservation formula for SC communities in the state following a special cabinet meeting.
The Justice Nagamohan Das Committee report was presented to the Cabinet at its meeting on 7 August. The Committee recommended quotas for each group within the overall 17 percent quota for SCs based on their respective populations.
In its order, the Karnataka government said the reclassification of certain sub-castes under SCs will be implemented based on the Committee’s recommendation, and the necessary authority has been granted to ensure their inclusion under the SC list.
“Similar reservation processes will be applied for education, representation, various state government roles, etc. The government will continue to follow policies regarding reservation and implementation for internal reservation activists and ensure the procedures are followed accordingly,” the government said in its order.
It added that, for state police services, internal reservation will be maintained according to the standing reservation, and current recruitment processes will continue until further government orders or any new approval on the draft comes through.
According to sources, three groups within the SCs will share 17 percent reservation. However, the state did make some alterations to the recommendations given by the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission.
The commission had recommended six percent to SC-left, five percent to SC-right and four percent to touchable castes. However, the SC-left and SC-right will now get six percent reservation each.
Touchable castes (including Lambani, Korama, Koracha and Bhovis) will be given five percent reservation.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Anisha Reddy.)
