Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai
Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor approved the state government's ordinance to increase jobs and education reservation quota for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), IANS reported.
The ordinance, promulgated on October 20, was sent to Governor Thawarchand Gehlot for approval. He approved the same days later.
The ordinance raised the SC share reservation by 2 per cent and ST share by 4 per cent in the state's quota for educational institutions and government jobs. This will make the SC quota 17 per cent and ST 7 per cent in the state.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, "It is a Deepavali gift from the state government for the SC/ST community," expressing his happiness on the governor giving his ascent to the ordinance.
The Karnataka government will get the ordinance passed in both houses of the State Assembly.
The Bommai-led BJP government in the state decided to increase SC/ST quota based on a report prepared by a committee headed by retired High Court Justice league HN Nagmohan Das. However, the government's move to increase reservation will breach the Supreme Court-set 50 per cent limit on the reservation, and the total will reach 56 per cent in Karnataka.