Vokkaligas and Lingayats, two dominant communities in Karnataka, get more reservation

Henceforth, reservation for Vokkaligas will be under the 2C category—four per cent—and for Lingayats it will be under the 2D category—five per cent. These will be increased in the coming days. Lingayats are considered the most populous community in the state, followed by Vokkaligas.

The new categories will not affect the reservation provided to other communities, according to the government. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said the proportion of population eligible for economically weaker sections (EWS) reservation was around four per cent. “We will redistribute the remaining portion of the EWS category under 2C and 2D,” he said, noting that the government had agreed to implement the EWS quota in the state.

The decision follows vocal demands from Panchamasalis, a subsect of the Lingayat community, who sought their inclusion under the 2A reservation category, and from Vokkaligas, who wanted their four per cent quota hiked to 12 per cent. A failure to meet these demands could upset the ruling BJP’s electoral calculations.

The further increase in the reservation for the two communities—to be made by redistributing the EWS quota—will be based on the backward classes commission’s population assessment. The assessment will likely be completed in three months, Madhuswamy said. Once the assessment is complete, the increased reservation percentage for the 2C and 2D categories will be announced, he said.

The total quantum of reservation in the state will now increase to 66 per cent. The state breached the Supreme Court’s 50 per cent reservation cap when it increased the scheduled castes quota from 12 per cent to 17 per cent and the scheduled tribes quota from three per cent to seven per cent in October. An Act to this effect was passed in the legislature’s winter session, which concluded Thursday.

Madhuswamy said the government would approach the Centre to include the reservation increases in the 9 schedule of the Constitution so that they will not be subject to judicial review.