The Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday decided to constitute a high-level committee headed by a retired High Court judge to look into the demands made by various communities seeking changes in the existing reservation.
With this, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will look to buy time on the contentious issue.
Briefing reporters, Law Minister Basavaraj Bommai said it will be a 3-member committee, with one member being a social scientist.
“The Halumatha (Kuruba) community has asked to be categorised as ST. Panchamasali Lingayats have asked for reservation under Category 2A. When we look at all these demands, it already exceeds the 50% mandate for overall reservation,” Bommai pointed out.
“This is a challenging issue. Hence, we require expert opinions in this regard. This committee will look into current demands and possible future demands,” the minister said.
At present, Karnataka provides 32% reservation for OBCs, 15% for SCs and 3% for STs, totalling 50% as capped by the Supreme Court. If the BJP government decides to hike quotas, the 50% cap will be breached, which would land it in a legal quagmire.
Last year, the HN Nagamohan Das Commission had recommended increasing reservation for SC from 15% to 17% and STs from 3% to 7.5%.