Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday informed the Legislative Assembly that the Government will find a solution on increasing the Scheduled Tribe reservation from 3.5% to 7.5% in the next 10 days.
In a reply to the demand to increase the quota for STs, cutting across party lines, Mr. Bommai said a committee headed by former Upalokayukta Subhash B. Adi was expected to give its interim report in the next 10 days on the issue. Meanwhile, the Government would also seek legal opinion from the Advocate General, he said.
“The Government alone will not take a decision,” he said, adding that the issue would be discussed with leaders at an all-party meeting to arrive at a consensus. However, the Government was committed to increasing the quota for STs, the Chief Minister said and appealed to the seers to drop their agitation launched at Freedom Park in the city.
The Justice Nagamohan Das Committee has already given a report recommending hike in reservation for STs. Earlier, the communities had been considered as backward tribes and were given a 5% quota. The quota was reduced following the merger with the ST category. Now there was a demand to increase the quota to 7.5% following increase in the population, the Chief Minister said.
The Government has to take a decision carefully by considering all aspects since the courts have been reviewing issues related to reservation, Mr. Bommai said.
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said injustice would be meted out to ST and SC population if the quota was not increased to more than 50%. Mr. Siddaramaiah argued that the Union Government had already increased the quota to more than 50% by providing 10% reservation for economically backward sections in the general category.
Narasimha Naik (Raju Gowda) of the BJP said the seers have been staging a protest in Bengaluru seeking increase in the quota. He urged Mr. Bommai to visit the spot and appeal to the seers. He also said the Government spent ₹88 lakh to get the report from the Justice Nagmohan Das committee and there was no need to get another report.
