Karnataka scraps 4% muslim quota prior to assembly poll

Karnataka scraps 4% muslim quota prior to assembly poll

Reservation meant for minority community distributed equally between Lingayats, Vokkaligas; economically-backward Muslims will have to compete in 10% EWS pool, announces Bommai.

In what could be a game changer ahead of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections scheduled in April-May this year, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has scrapped the reservation of 4% given to Muslims in Karnataka under 2B of Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and distributed it to two dominant communities — Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas — at 2% each in jobs and admissions in educational institutions.

With the State Cabinet decision, the quota under the newly-created categories of 2C and 2D among the backward classes for Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats has increased from 4% to 6% and from 5% to 7%, respectively.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who presided over the Cabinet meeting on Friday, said that Muslims who are economically backward will now have to compete in the 10% pool created under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota.

Legacy of Deve Gowda

Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda during his tenure as Chief Minister of Karnataka, in 1995, provided 4% reservation for Muslims under the category 2B in OBC quota, which now stands scrapped.

The Cabinet meeting held during the winter session in Belagavi in December 2022, had approved the creation of new categories of 2C and 2D for Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats, respectively, based on the interim report submitted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes.

With Friday’s decision, the OBC reservation has been kept at 32%, SC 17% and ST 7%, totalling 56%. Besides this, there is an EWS quota of 10%. Those not covered under the SC/ST and OBC reservation are eligible for quota under the 10% EWS quota, as per the economic criteria, Mr. Bommai said.z`