government of karnataka It was decided to implement internal reservation for Scheduled Caste communities on Monday, Indian Express reported. The state government said a commission will be set up to compile data for this purpose.

The decision came after the incident of the Supreme Court 1 August decision This allowed sub-classification of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories for the purpose of providing reservation in government jobs and education.

The proposed one-man commission will be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, state Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil told reporters after the Cabinet meeting on Monday. The panel will submit a report within three months.

The Congress government in the state will not release notifications For new hires in government jobs until the report is submitted. “Recruitment will begin after the commission submits its report.” India today He quoted Patil as saying.

The new panel was formed after the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state rejected the Justice AJ Sadashiva Commission’s report on internal reservations in 2022. Indian Express he quoted the state’s Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa as saying.

“Currently, the census does not have any data on internal reservation,” he said, adding that the new commission would have to reference national census data or compile the data on its own.

Mahadevappa said the state government will discuss the report with all 101 Scheduled Caste communities before implementing reservations. “They all call for an internal reservation, provided it is based on empirical data,” he added.

Priyank Kharge, the state’s Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, stated that the Supreme Court’s order said that empirical data should be used while granting internal reservation.

Ministers added that the source of the data will be clarified after the commission’s terms of reference are published. Indian Express reported.

In the report he presented in 2012, Sadashiva Commission It had suggested dividing the 101 castes into four categories, with each caste getting 15% share of the reservation.

According to this division, 6% would be allocated to Scheduled Caste on the left, 5% to Scheduled Caste on the right, 3% to Bhovi, Lambani, Koracha and Korama communities and 1% to other Scheduled Caste groups.

Ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2023, the previous BJP government of the state had announced 6% reservation to the left of the Scheduled Caste, 5.5% to the right Scheduled Caste and 4.5% to communities like Banjaras and Bhovis. Indian Express reported.

A 1% quota was reserved for other communities under the category.

However, members of the Lambani community protested this decision, alleging that the state government was implementing the Sadashiva Commission’s recommendations through a back channel.

Later, the BJP government scrapped the plans, citing legal issues related to changes in the general reservation system in the state. Indian Express reported.

Karnataka’s announcement on Monday came two weeks after Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said the state government would take action in this regard. to apply Subclassification of Scheduled Releases to enable reservations.

This made Haryana the first state to implement the Supreme Court order. decision.

The seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud in its verdict on August 1 held that sub-classification of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories to provide reservation in government jobs and education was permissible based on empirical data.

The court, with a 6:1 majority decision, rejected The court’s 2004 judgment held that the Scheduled Castes constitute a homogeneous group and hence cannot be divided into categories.

Four of the seven judges also sought definition of the creamy layer between the categories of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. removed from reservation matrix.

The creamy layer aims to exclude wealthier and more advanced members within a group from the benefits of affirmative action. However, the application of the creamy layer was not one of the questions before the panel and the recommendations of the four jury members lack of legal enforceability.

It has been seen in many states across the country Protests by Dalit and Adivasi groups against the decision. Opposition parties also criticized BT. BJP MPs People from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities had also expressed concern over the court’s observations.