Karnataka Cabinet okays hike in SC/ST quota, to issue govt order

Bengaluru : The Karnataka Cabinet on Saturday accorded its formal approval to increase the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/STs) quota in the State.
The State government would issue an order with which quota for SCs would go up from 15 percent to 17 percent and for STs from 3 percent to 7 percent. Following this, it would also initiate the process to have the quota included under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution by making a recommendation to the Centre.
“The Cabinet met today and as was decided in an all-party meeting yesterday (Friday) it accepted Justice H N Nagamohan Das Commission report in which it recommends hiking the quota for SCs from 15 percent to 17 percent and for STs from 3 percent to 7 percent,” Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said after a special meeting of the Cabinet.
Also Read Karnataka to hike SC/ST quota through Constitutional amendment Speaking to reporters, he said it has been decided to immediately issue an order and a gazette notification to this effect “To give legal protection to this decision, it has to be included under the Schedule 9 of the Constitution, and for all procedures relating to it, the Law Department, Law Commission, Constitutional experts, in consultation with the Advocate General, will make a recommendation (to centre) and try to implement it,”he added.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said the Cabinet’s decision would be implemented through a government order, and the modalities be explained in the order, which is expected to be issued in 2-3 days.