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The Karnataka Legislative Assembly recently approved the Scheduled Castes Sub-Classification Bill, 2025 and turned it into law. With this development, a struggle carried on for 35 years by affected communities in Karnataka for re-classification within the Scheduled Castes has reached a logical end.
However, although the very objective of internal reservation is to protect the interests of the most oppressed among the oppressed, this law has bowed to the pressure of those who are relatively advanced even within the oppressed sections, and has failed to deliver complete justice.
This apart, ambiguities continue regarding promotions, grants and the continuation of posts within specific categories even when no eligible candidates are available.
The discussions on reservation and internal reservation during the Belagavi session exposed both the hypocrisy of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opportunism of the party ruling in Karnataka. When the issue of commitment to implementing the Sadashiva Commission report, which suggested reclassification of Scheduled Caste reservation, came up, both parties resorted to blatant falsehoods and half-truths in pursuit of scoring points against each other.
Although the Sadashiva Commission was appointed by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular)alliance government in 2004, it submitted its report in 2012 to a BJP government. By then, however, a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that sub-classification within Scheduled Castes was impermissible, and that state governments did not have legislative authority to do so. Taking this into account, the Sadashiva Commission recommended that an appropriate amendment to Article 341 of the Constitution was necessary to implement internal reservation.
Without a constitutional amendment or another constitutional bench of more than five judges overturning the 2004 Supreme Court judgment, no state government – regardless of the party in power – could have implemented the Sadashiva Commission report.
Despite this, after 2012, the BJP, Congress and the JD(S) continued to make false promises that they would implement the Sadashiva Commission report if elected to power. They, therefore, share equal responsibility for misleading the public.
After the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the BJP government that came to power had the numerical strength required to bring a constitutional amendment for internal reservation. Yet, it chose not to do so. Instead, it used its majority to amend the constitution to provide reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) that effectively ensured a quota for elite-caste groups. Thus, both parties betrayed the Scheduled Castes by not providing internal reservation, but the BJP’s share in it is larger. Similarly, in the debates on reservation and EWS reservation, while the BJP displayed its anti-constitutional stance, Congress tried to hide its political opportunism.
As Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rightly argued in the Karnataka Assembly, Articles 15(4) and 16(4), inserted by the First Constitutional Amendment, mandate reservation only for socially and educationally backward classes – not for those who are economically dissadvantaged.
Yet in 2019, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government used its numerical strength to bring the 103rd Constitutional Amendment and introduced economic-criteria-based reservation, directly contradicting the spirit of the constitution.
In 2021, a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court upheld this amendment by a 3:2 majority. When this amendment was introduced in parliament, the Congress also welcomed it. The Bahujan Samaj Party and Aam Aadmi Party supported it as well, thereby collaborating in this betrayal.
Most importantly, following the recommendations of the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission, a separate 1% reservation had been recommended for the most backward untouchable nomadic communities within the Scheduled Castes. This newly-passed state law rejects even that. Instead, under the 6:6:5 formula, the allocated 1% merges the most backward nomadic communities with groups such as Lambani, Bovi, Korama and Koracha – communities that are relatively more advanced within the Scheduled Castes, or in the words of the Nagamohan Das Commission, “less backward” than others in the SC list.
This is the gravest injustice committed through this law. Not only the Nagsmohan Das Commission, but the Sadashiva Commission and even the Madhuswamy Committee – hurriedly formed by a BJP government just before assembly elections in 2023 – had all recognised untouchable nomadic communities as the most backward among Scheduled Castes and had therefore recommended separate reservation for them.
Yet, despite repeatedly assuring activists of the community in Bengaluru, Delhi and Belagavi that no injustice would be done to nomadic communities, the Karnataka government ultimately not only denied them separate reservation, but also grouped them with Lambani, Bovi, Korama and Koracha – communities that all commissions had considered relatively advanced.
On the penultimate day of the Belagavi session, while presenting the Karnataka sub-classification bill, Karnataka Social Welfare Minister H.C. Mahadevappa gave only one reason for denying separate reservation to untouchable nomadic communities: that 1% reservation would not yield sufficient benefit. But he provided no justification for why they were merged with Group C, nor why they were not merged with Group A, which includes Madiga-related communities and has a higher reservation share of 6% or even Group B, which includes Holeya-related communities. Neither the law nor the minister provided any reasoning.
The government still claims that it has protected nomadic interests by citing Sections 3(iii) and 9 of the Sub-classification Act. In reality, this is a sophisticated deception.
Here is what Section 3(iii) of the Act says: “…However, in the case of Category C of Scheduled Castes, excluding the castes listed at serial numbers 10, 15, 36, and 37 (i.e., caste codes 17, 23, 53, and 54 –Bovi, Lambani, Koracha, and Korama), at least one out of every five posts or seats shall be reserved for the remaining 59 castes within Category C…”
The rationale for reserving every fifth position within the C group only for the 59 nomadic castes while excluding Lambani, Bovi, Korama and Koracha communities is unclear. The only possible justification is that these 59 nomadic castes are more backward than the others. If so, why deny them a separate 1% reservation and merge them into Category C at all?
The reason is apparent: it serves to placate the dissatisfaction arising from the 4% reservation given to Category C castes by the Justice Nagamohandas Commission, merging nomadic communities into Category C and increasing its quota to 5%. In other words, the interests of the most backward nomadic communities have been sacrificed to appease Category C. Even Category C communities never demanded this route.
Nomadic communities get the fifth post only after four posts are filled by Category C candidates. With a separate reservation, even a single post could have gone to them as per the roster rules. Alternatively, a rule could have been framed that the 1% nomadic quota must be filled first within Category C before filling others. That would have been less unjust – but Category C communities likely would not have accepted it.
Most importantly, the same section says, “If no eligible candidates are available from the 59 nomadic castes, the posts shall be filled by others in Category C castes.” Given the current social and educational backwardness of nomadic communities, this is a massive injustice.
With a separate reservation, unfilled posts would have been carried forward to subsequent years. This protection was crucial for the most backward nomadic communities. Instead, under this law, their share automatically goes to others. Thus, the state government pretends to give reservation with one hand while snatching it away with the other.
Worse still, in opposing the nomads’ petition challenging the 6:6:5 formula, the government argued that the Nagamohan Das Commission’s methodology itself was fundamentally flawed, claiming that the 59 nomadic castes are not more backward than the Lambani, Bovi, Korama and Koracha.
The government’s own logic is inconsistent. Thus in its objections in response to the writ petition filed by the Untochable Nomads in the High Court, the it argued that there was no need for sub-classification of castes in Category D reservations. However, it has now justified such internal distinctions within Category C in the new law.
The issue is clear. All assurances given in Bengaluru and Delhi about providing 1% reservation to the most backward untouchable nomadic communities were falsehoods.
Through this Act, the Congress government has falsely claimed to the most oppressed untouchable nomadic communities to have created “special opportunities within Category C”, while in reality perpetuating an injustice. On the other hand, the BJP – despite making noises on every other issue –facilitated the unanimous passage of this anti-nomad law.
There is now only one path left: to fight in the High Court by demonstrating how this law violates Supreme Court guidelines on internal reservation, and simultaneously waging a united street struggle demanding separate and enhanced reservation for nomadic communities, exceeding the 50% cap in proportion to population.
Republished with permission from TheWire. The original article can be read here.