Bengaluru: In a significant development that could reshape the reservation landscape for Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Karnataka, the one-man commission headed by retired High Court judge H.N. Nagamohan Das has submitted its long-awaited report on internal reservation for 101 SC communities. The panel is learnt to have proposed a new quota distribution within the existing 17% reservation for SCs, creating distinct groups based on social, educational, and population factors.
According to sources, the commission has recommended a separate category for Adi Karnataka (AK), Adi Dravida (AD), and Adi Andhra (AA), allocating 1% reservation specifically for these three communities. This move, aimed at ending the longstanding confusion over colonial-era nomenclature, is seen as an attempt to provide clarity to thousands of members from both the Dalit Left (Madigas) and Dalit Right (Holeyas) groups who currently share these caste labels.
Proposed Reservation Structure
The proposed distribution of the 17% SC reservation is as follows:
Dalit Left (Madigas): 6%
Dalit Right (Holeyas): 5%
Lambani, Korama, Koracha, Bhovi: 4%
Over 40 micro-communities: 1%
Adi Karnataka, Adi Dravida, Adi Andhra: 1%
The micro-communities, which include more than 50 extremely backward groups with populations of less than 10,000, are expected to receive higher weightage in government recruitment to address their historical lack of representation.
“Castes that are equal in social and educational backwardness, and scored poor in adequate representation, have been brought together. This, along with population size, has been the basis for allocating the reservation matrix,” a source familiar with the report said.
While the Dalit Left, which has been advocating for internal reservation for over three decades, has welcomed the panel’s recommendations, other groups are far from satisfied. The Dalit Right and the touchable SC communities such as Lambani, Korama, Koracha, and Bhovi are reportedly unhappy with the slicing of the quota and are expected to demand a thorough review of the report by a Cabinet sub-committee before implementation.
In contrast, Dalit Left organizations have demanded immediate action. “The government should place the report before the legislature after a Cabinet discussion and implement the reservation without delay. Our indefinite protest in Bengaluru from August 11 will continue until the order is issued,” said Basavaraj Kowthal, convener of the Protest Committee for Social Justice through Internal Reservation for Scheduled Castes.
The report, though not officially released, is now in the government’s hands. Political observers say its implementation could spark an intense debate both within the Cabinet and in the legislature.
