In a historic decision that is expected to bring a closure to the more-than-three-decades-old struggle for internal reservation in Karnataka, the State Cabinet on Tuesday approved a reservation matrix slicing the 17% reservation for Scheduled Castes with 6% each to Dalit Right (Holeyas) and Dalit Left (Madigas) groups and 5% to Lambani, Korama, Koracha and Bhovis (touchable castes), along with 59 microscopic communities.
The decision comes just over a year after the Supreme Court allowed internal reservation to be provided among Scheduled Castes. Government sources said that an ordinance with this regard will be promulgated after the Monsoon session, and prioritisation of categories will be spelt out.
However, in what is seen as succumbing to Dalit right and touchable castes, the State Cabinet decided to drop 1% reservation to nomadic castes (the most disadvantaged) and 1% reservation given to Adi Karnataka, Adi Dravida and Adi Andhra, as recommended by the one-man commission headed by retired judge H.N. Nagamohan Das. The commission, which submitted its report on August 4, had recommended 5% reservation to Dalit Right, 6% to Dalit Left and 4% to touchable castes.
From the five categories recommended by the commission, the Cabinet brought it down to three. Following the Cabinet decision, the Category E for AK, AD and AA as recommended by the commission will be merged with Dalit Right, while Category A recommended by the commission will go with touchable castes.
