Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa on Tuesday, March 4, stated that the Madiga community, classified under the SC Left, is shocked over the government’s failure to implement internal reservation while proceeding with recruitment for 56,432 vacant posts in various departments. He said the community expects the issue to be resolved at the upcoming Cabinet meeting and reiterated the demand for a judicially sustainable internal quota.
Addressing a joint press conference along with Excise Minister RB Thimmapur and former Rajya Sabha member L Hanumanthaiah, Muniyappa said the matter had already been raised in the previous Cabinet meeting. He said that ministers belonging to the Scheduled Caste communities had urged the implementation of internal reservation within the 15 per cent SC quota during the recruitment process.
The controversy follows the State government’s recent decision to fill the vacancies by adhering to the 50 per cent reservation ceiling, as several cases related to quotas are pending before the court. Though the Governor has given assent to the Karnataka Scheduled Castes Sub-Classification Bill, 2025, which provides for 17 per cent reservation for SCs along with internal division, the recruitment notification has retained the earlier 15 per cent quota for SCs in view of legal challenges.
Under the sub-classification formula cleared earlier, the proposed break-up within 17 per cent was 6 per cent each for SC Left and SC Right communities and 5 per cent for other SC groups, including Bovis and Lambanis. However, since the overall reservation exceeds the Supreme Court’s 50 per cent ceiling and the matter is under judicial scrutiny, the government has chosen to proceed cautiously.
Muniyappa said the struggle for internal reservation has continued for nearly four decades and recalled that a Supreme Court ruling had enabled states to implement such sub-classification. He added that although the Justice HN Nagamohan Das Commission report was delayed, ministers from SC communities had arrived at a broad consensus on its recommendations.
Thimmapur said the issue would be discussed again at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting and appealed to youth from the community not to rush into protests. He said there was no need to immediately launch an agitation against the government and expressed hope that a proportionate internal reservation formula would be worked out.
The recruitment announcement without specifying internal reservation details has triggered strong reactions from SC Left groups, some of whom have demanded withdrawal of the government order and sought changes in the Cabinet. Community leaders estimate that SC and ST candidates could lose a significant number of posts if recruitment proceeds without internal allocation.
According to media reports, a delegation of SC Left leaders and ministers met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and conveyed their dissatisfaction over the notification. The government is now expected to deliberate on whether to incorporate a pro rata internal division within the existing 15 per cent SC quota until the court decides on the enhanced 17 per cent framework.