Karnataka Muslims reservation: Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, the Karnataka government decided to scrap the 4% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) Muslims in jobs and education. In a cabinet meeting on Friday, the state government also took the decision to divide the 4% OBC quota between two dominant communities of the poll-bound state - Vokkaligas and Lingayats.
The existing quota of Vokkaligas and Lingayats, for whom two new reservation categories of 2C and 2D were created during the Belagavi Assembly Session last year, will now be increased by the four per cent reservation previously granted to Muslims under the OBC category's 2B classification.
According to reports, the decision raises Karnataka's reservation percentage, which was already higher than the Supreme Court's 50% threshold, to over 57%.
Religious minorities under the EWS category
Notably, the cabinet resolved to bring religious minorities under the EWS category. Following the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai spoke to the media and announced that the religious minority' quota would be eliminated and brought under the 10% pool of the EWS category without any change of condition.
"Some important decisions have been taken by the cabinet. A cabinet sub-committee recommended the changes in quota categories and we have accepted it," said Chief Minister Bomai.
Additionally, the Karnataka government also increased reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) from 15 to 17% and Scheduled Tribes (STs) from 3 to 7%.
Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023
It should be noted here that Legislative Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Karnataka before May 2023 to elect all 224 members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The tenure of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 24 May 2023. The Election Commission is expected to announce the poll schedule for Assembly elections in the next few days. The previous assembly elections were held in May 2018. Karnataka has 5.05 crore registered voters as of the updated final electoral rolls for 2023, which were released on January 5 this year. This number includes 2.50 crore registered women voters and 4,502 other voters.
