Banjara community protests against internal reservation among SCs

Banjara (Lambani) community members staging a protest against internal reservation among Scheduled Castes in Kalaburagi on Thursday.

| Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI

The Banjara (Lambani) community members staged a protest in Kalaburagi on Thursday, opposing the Karnataka government’s decision to provide internal reservation among the Scheduled Castes (SCs).Mobilised under the banner of the Karnataka Pradesh Banjara Lambani Seva Sangha, hundreds of community members gathered at the Banjara Bhavan in the morning and carried out a procession to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, raising slogans against the government.The procession was marked by traditional drum beats and the waving of flags bearing the words ‘Jai Sevalal’. Protesters carried placards demanding the withdrawal of the roster-point system and justice for the Banjara community. They also criticised political leaders for remaining silent on the issue and raised slogans against the Congress government over its internal reservation policy.The protesters staged a sit-in on the road in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office for about an hour, disrupting traffic on the road connecting Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Circle and Jagat Circle.Addressing the protesters, Judo Banjara Foundation president and former judge Subhashchandra Rathod said four demands had been placed before the government.He said seven or eight cases challenging internal reservation were pending before the courts and urged the government to conduct all recruitments under the earlier reservation system until the cases were decided.“If the government proceeds with internal reservation, it should classify the 101 SC communities into two groups in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment. Communities that had remained inadequately represented in education and employment should be placed in Group A and provided the benefits available to them under law, while the remaining communities should be placed in Group B and the internal reservation distributed accordingly”, Mr. Rathod said.He also opposed the State government’s decision to allocate 5.25% each to Groups A and B and 4.5% to Group C within the 15% SC reservation. Instead, the three groups should receive an equal 5% each, he demanded.The protesters demanded that, if the government continued with the A, B and C classification, the 63 communities placed in Group C be given 4% reservation, with the share specifically allocated to the Banjara, Bhovi, Korcha and Korama communities, while 1% should be earmarked for the 59 nomadic communities.The protesters also demanded the withdrawal of all recruitment notifications and circulars issued under the new internal reservation arrangement until the issues were resolved. They urged the government to conduct recruitment without applying internal reservation, as stated in its notification of February 27, 2026.A memorandum, addressed to the Chief Minister, with a list of demands, was later submitted to the office of the Deputy Commissioner. The memorandum sought a review of the Cabinet decision of August 19, on the classification of the 101 SC communities and subsequent notifications concerning reservation allocation and roster points.Bhaliram Maharaj, community leader Khemsing Rathod, Mata Latadevi, B.B. Naik, All India Banjara Seva Sangha district president Vishal Naik, P.G. Rathod, Anand Chavan, Dhanraj Rathod, Karan Chavan, Vishal Pawar, Anil Pawar, Shyamrao Pawar, Arjun and Krishnappa Kaladevaru were among those who participated. Published - August 13, 2026 07:51 pm IST