Members of nomadic and semi-nomadic communities from across Karnataka staged a massive protest at Freedom Park on Wednesday, September 4, demanding a separate 1% reservation within the Scheduled Castes (SC) quota, as recommended by the HN Nagamohan Das Commission. They have threatened to stop the winter session of the legislature if their demands are not met.
The protesters, under the banner of the Karnataka Untouchable Nomadic Communities’ Federation and the Federation for Social Justice for SCs, have vowed to continue their agitation indefinitely until the government meets their demands.
They also announced plans for a “Belagavi Chalo” during the upcoming winter session of the state legislature, warning that they would not allow the session to function if their demands were ignored.
Large numbers of people from across the state from communities such as the Beda/Budga Jangama, Sudugadu Siddha, Sillekyatha, Sindholu, and Channa Dasari communities participated in the protest.
Writer Shivasundar, actor Chethan Ahimsa, and Dalit leaders Ambanna Ambalikar and others addressed the gathering, urging the government to reverse its decision and implement the commission’s recommendations.
With the slogan “Justice or Jail”, the protesters declared that they were prepared for an indefinite struggle until the government took corrective action.
The protesters are seeking priority in reservation for 59 microscopic communities, including 49 nomadic and semi-nomadic groups and 10 highly sensitive castes, identified by the commission as the most backward among SCs. They argued that clubbing them with relatively better-off communities such as Lambani, Bhovi, Korama, and Koracha had further alienated them.
The protesters demanded that one percent of the 17 percent SC reservation be set aside for nomadic and semi-nomadic communities under Group A, in line with the Das Commission’s recommendation.
Other demands for the development of these communities include earmarking 1% of total allocations under the Special Component Plan for the Scheduled Castes, and the establishment of a separate development corporation in which Korama and Koracha communities should not be included.
The Nagamohan Das Commission had recommended splitting the 17 percent SC quota into five categories — A (1%), B (6%), C (5%), D (4%), and E (1%). However, the State Cabinet had earlier reduced it to three groups under a 6-6-5 formula.