Congress-led Karnataka govt seeks amendment of Article 341 for internal reservation

Currently, the state government has a recommendatory role, and Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa emphasised that only Parliament can authorise internal reservations through an amendment to Article 341(3). To facilitate this, the Karnataka government plans to compile and submit a list of all Dalit sub-quota recommendations to the Centre.

The state minister asserted that the previous government, led by Basavaraj Bommai, had rejected the Sadashiva panel's report. "After the Congress announced the acceptance of the Sadashiva panel’s report, the (previous) BJP government hastily formed a Cabinet sub-committee under the Law Minister, recommending SC internal reservations to the Centre, deeming the Sadashiva Commission irrelevant and closed," stated Minister Mahadevappa, as reported by The Indian Express.

Last March, the Bommai-led government proposed SC internal reservations shortly before the Model Code of Conduct took effect. The former BJP government suggested sub-quotas within the 17% SC reservation, dividing it into categories: 6% for the most backward SC (Left), 5.5% for the less backward SC (Right), and 4.5% for the SC (touchable) group leaving the remaining 1% for other SC communities.

Mahadevappa asserted that these sub-quotas were based on the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission's report, following the Sadashiva Commission's 2012 recommendation of a 15% SC quota with specific allocations for various sub-castes.