Belagavi: The Karnataka Assembly on Monday passed a bill to hike reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ STs). The Government, a couple of months ago, had hiked reservation for SC communities from the existing 15 to 17 percent and that for ST communities from 3 to 7 percent.

However, there are some legal hurdles to be crossed, and to tide them over, the State Government will approach the Central Government to include a new law in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.

Welcoming the Bill, Leader of Opposition Siddharamaiah said its provisions breach the Supreme Court’s 50 per cent cap on quotas. Therefore, the Central Government must include it in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, he pointed out.

Congress MLA Krishna Byregowda, a former Minister, raised doubts over the commitment of the Central Government because it had denied any increase in reservation. “All that we want is that the Central Government should make an affirmative statement about the Bill,” he said.

Siddharamaiah also agreed with JD-S members’ demand for reservation in the private sector. “There are lakhs of Central and State jobs vacant. The reservation quota in private sector too will help in reducing unemployment among SC/ST and OBC communities,” he observed.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy assured to take up this matter with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

In March 2021, the B.S. Yediyurappa led BJP Government set up a Committee headed by retired High Court Judge Subhash B. Adi to study the demands for changes in reservation matrix.

The Committee gave its report on July 6 and cited a study by Bengaluru’s National Law School of India University, which stated that 74 per cent of tribal communities had remained invisible and that their literacy rate was lower than 3 per cent.

Prior to it, a Committee headed by retired HC Judge Nagamohandas was formed in 2019 following an order passed by Karnataka High Court to study the condition of SC/STs in the State.

The Nagmohan Das Committee report, submitted in July 2020, said there was evidence of social and educational backwardness among the communities. Such backwardness was much starker in populations living in far-flung areas in the Western Ghats and in the drier regions of the State, the report said, adding that people there were unable to get the benefits of reservation.