In a bid to placate all communities in the state, the Karnataka cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, on Thursday decided to include all those communities, not part of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes list, into the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation quota. Briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Basavaraj Bommai said that all those communities, which are not part of the SC/ST/OBC lists, will be eligible to apply for jobs as well as for education seats under EWS reservation category.
"The order regarding this will come out shortly," he said. He said that all those families, whose income is less than Rs 8 lakh per annum, will be eligible under this EWS category reservations. Earlier this year, Yediyurappa was under tremendous pressure from his own party leaders who were demanding better quota reservation. Seers from various communities had led movements across the state, demanding a hike in reservation quotas. Panchamasali Lingayats, who are part of the politically-dominant Lingayat community too were seeking Category 2A status, Kurubas, the third-largest community in the state were seeking a Schedule Tribe tag and the Valmiki community was seeking a hike in reservation from 3.5% to 7.5%. Some prominent state BJP leaders, including incumbent ministers, had supported the demands.
This decision by the state government comes a day after it emerged that the state became the first in the country to provide 1% reservation for transgender people in all government services. In a submission to the Karnataka High Court, the state said that the 1% reservation will be applied in all general as well as reserve categories for transgender people. This means that within the job quota for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities, and in the general category, 1% of jobs will be reserved for transgender people who belong to those communities.