The five-member Cabinet sub-committee, constituted ahead of the Assembly polls, is seen as a ploy to appease the SC 'Left'.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai constituted a cabinet sub-committee to look into the internal reservations for Scheduled Castes. (Pic - CMO)
The Karnataka government has constituted a five-member Cabinet sub-committee to make recommendations on providing internal reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC). But Dalit groups are not enthused.
The setting up of the panel barely five months ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls is seen as an attempt to appease Dalit groups, especially those that are reliable vote banks for BJP among SC communities.
The SC votes in Karnataka are traditionally split between the Congress and the BJP.
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs JC Madhuswamy is heading the sub-committee comprising Minister for Water Resources Govind Karjol, Minister for Fisheries S Angara, Minister for Animal Husbandry Prabhu Chavan, and Minister for Health and Family Welfare K Sudhakar.
Ministers Karjol, Angara and Chauhan belong to the SC community.
According to reports, the Cabinet sub-committee is likely to study and consider the recommendations on internal reservations for SCs in the Justice AJ Sadashiva and Justice HN Nagamohan Das commission reports.
The Sadashiva Commission submitted its report in 2012 when MP Sadananda Gowda was the chief minister. The Nagamohan Das Commission submitted its report to the BS Yediyurappa-led state government in 2020.
“There are 101 sub-sects among the SCs. There are complaints that the reservation is benefitting only four or five major castes while the rest are left out. There is a demand from the oppressed castes for internal reservations for SCs,” Minister Karjol told South First.
Stating that the sub-committee’s agenda has not been set, the minister added that it was too early to comment on whether the panel would look into the recommendations made in the two commission reports.
“If necessary, the sub-committee will carry out a detailed study. The government is committed to serving justice to the oppressed castes,” Karjol added.
The Dalit groups, however, are not happy. They felt the government is playing with the sentiments of the oppressed by creating a smoke screen of false hope ahead of the election.
The Congress-JD(S) combine constituted the Sadashiva Commission in 2005 to look into the need for, and means of, sub-classifying SC reservations in Karnataka.
After a seven-year delay, the commission submitted its report to the then BJP government led by Sadananda Gowda in 2012. Even after a decade, the report has not been tabled in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Though the report was not made public, the commission released a press release on its highlights. The panel recommended the division of the 101 castes on the SC list into four categories:
Based on the categorisation, the then 15 percent reservation for Scheduled Castes in state employment was to be divided according to each caste’s proportion in the population, according to a report in The Wire.
The SCs in Karnataka are broadly divided into two: Touchable and Untouchable communities. Lambani, Bhovi, Korama and other castes are “touchable” and are considered superior among the marginalised. They fall under the SC Left category.
The “untouchables” are further divided into “Right hand” and “Left hand”. Madigas and 29 other related castes fall under the Left untouchable segment, while Holeya and 24 other castes come under the Right untouchable category.
Chandrashekar T Kotabaki, a Dalit leader from North Karnataka, accused the state government of playing with the sentiments of the oppressed SCs.
“The state government can pass a resolution but it lacks the authority to provide internal reservations. It is just a political gimmick to consolidate its vote bank ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls,” he said.
Kotabaki added that only Parliament can provide reservations. “The state legislature can only pass a resolution and recommend it to Parliament,” he added.
The Dalit leader noted that all political parties have been promising to implement the Sadashiva Commission recommendations ahead of each election.
“It is not just the BJP. Even the Congress and JD(S) governments did not make any sincere effort to implement the Sadashiva Commission report. The report has become a tool for all political parties to make electoral gains,” Kotabaki fumed.
“The Punjab government was the first in India to sub-classify and accord internal reservation in 1976. The Haryana government followed Punjab in 1994. The united Andhra Pradesh witnessed a mass movement for internal reservations for SCs in 1997,” Kotabaki pointed out.
Following the agitation, Andhra Pradesh constituted the P Ramachandra Raju Commission. The report recommended sub-classification of SCs. Accordingly, the state government passed an Act and framed rules in 2000, implementing sub-classification.
The government order was challenged in the high court but the court upheld the order.
“However, the high court order was challenged in the Supreme Court. A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice N Santosh Hegde heard the case. The bench quashed the government order,” Kotabaki said.
The Supreme Court ruling in the case is now known as the Chinnaiah judgment. EV Chinnaiah was the petitioner in the case.
“The bench, referring to Article 341 (2), said that the power lies with Parliament, and the state governments can only pass resolutions but are restricted to enact any sub-classification or provide internal reservation,” Kotabaki elaborated.
He further said: “The order passed by the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court made it a law. Based on the judgment, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana withdrew their respective orders on sub-classification of SCs.”
Kotabaki further narrated how state governments with political will went ahead with their plans to provide internal reservation. He cited the cases of Tamil Nadu and Punjab according priority to certain castes in filling up vacancies.
At the request of many state governments, the Union government set up the Justice Usha Mehra Commission to look into the necessity of sub-classification of SC reservations in 2007. The commission recommended the reclassification of SC reservation in its report submitted in 2008.
The panel also recommended an amendment to Article 341 of the Constitution. Justice Sadashiva, after studying the Chinnaiah judgment and the Usha Mehra Commission report, too, recommended an amendment to the Constitution.
Based on the recommendations of the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission report, the Karnataka government issued an ordinance increasing the reservation for SC/STs in the state on 20 October.
The ordinance hiked the reservation quota of SCs from 15 percent to 17 percent and for STs from three percent to seven percent.
However, the hike went past the 50 percent cap fixed by the Supreme Court to 56 percent. The government is also working on earmarking 10 percent reservation in jobs and educational institutions for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among forward classes. With this, the reservation is expected to go up to 66 percent in Karnataka.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has already stated that the government has plans to bring an ordinance or a Bill for providing reservation to the EWS.
When asked if the government will introduce a bill on enhancing reservation, Minister Karjol said: “The government has issued an order to hike the quota for SC/STs. We are also seeking legal opinion.”
In a separate but related development that did not go down well with Dalit groups was the police using force to disperse more than 200 Dalit activists who staged a protest at Freedom Park, demanding the implementation of the Sadashiva Commission report on Sunday, December 11.
The protestors, mainly from the Madiga community, were planning to submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Bommai. Two community leaders were injured in the incident, and several protesters were detained. They were later released.
State @BJP4Karnataka govt has arrested the activists who were protesting against the govt demanding the implementation of internal reservation.
I condemn this act of govt to silence the protestors.
I demand @CMofKarnataka @BSBommai to immediately release them.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) December 11, 2022
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