K'taka Cabinet okays hike in SC/ST quota, to issue govt order
Bengaluru, Oct 8: The Karnataka Cabinet on Saturday accorded its formal approval to increase the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/STs) quota in the State.
The State government would issue an order with which quota for SCs would go up from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent. Following this, it would also initiate the process to have the quota included under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution by making a recommendation to the Centre.
"The Cabinet met today and as was decided in an all-party meeting yesterday (Friday) it accepted Justice H N Nagamohan Das Commission report in which it recommends hiking the quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent," Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said after a special meeting of the Cabinet.
Speaking to reporters, he said it has been decided to immediately issue an order and a gazette notification to this effect
"To give legal protection to this decision, it has to be included under the Schedule 9 of the Constitution, and for all procedures relating to it, the Law Department, Law Commission, Constitutional experts, in consultation with the Advocate General, will make a recommendation (to centre) and try to implement it,"he added.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said the Cabinet's decision would be implemented through a government order, and the modalities be explained in the order, which is expected to be issued in 2-3 days.
Asked as to why the government decided to issue an executive order before the Constitutional amendment, Madhuswamy said, "The government runs on some specific purpose and ideologies...We are in a democracy...Can we discuss if the laws we make will stand judicial scrutiny?"
At present, Karnataka provides 32 per cent reservation for OBCs, 15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs, totalling 50 per cent.
With the decision to hike SC/ST quota, the reservation tally in Karnataka would be at 56 per cent, exceeding the 50 per cent cap fixed by the Supreme Court, and the way before the State is via the Schedule 9 route, through a constitutional amendment where the Centre and Parliament will come into picture.
The decision to hike SC/ST quota is also being seen by some with a political prism, with Assembly elections due in about six months.
The Bommai government was under tremendous pressure from SC/ST lawmakers to implement the commission's report. Also, the 'Valmiki Gurupeetha' seer Prasannananda Swami has been on a hunger strike demanding the ST quota hike.
The Opposition parties, especially the Congress had been attacking the government for the delay in implementation.
Many have doubts whether this decision would stand the test of legal scrutiny as reservation would now exceed the 50 per cent cap, the Chief Minister said adding that as per the Indra Sawhney case the STs who are away from the mainstream socially and educationally can be considered as a special case and reservation can be given.
He said both Justice H N Nagamohan Das and Justice Subhash B Adi committee have clearly mentioned in their reports as to how this Karnataka's hike in quota is a special case, by noting that reservation should be proportional to population, and by highlighting education and social backwardness of these communities with figures. "So, basically, there are strong grounds."
"Further, in various States where there is a good number of SC/ST population like - Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu- the reservation has crossed 50 per cent. Also the Centre had made a constitutional amendment to provide reservation for economically weaker sections crossing the 50 per cent cap," he said pointing out that though both these have been challenged in courts; there are no adverse judgements so far.
Responding to a question, Bommai said the government would take appropriate decisions regarding internal reservation demand among the SCs/STs, after thoroughly studying the Sadashiva Commission report and court judgements in this regard, and duly consulting experts, leaders and all stakeholders.
The Cabinet today also decided to set up a development corporation for the Alemari (nomadic) communities.
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UP SIR: Over 84 lakh voters added in final list, total electorate rises to 13.39 crore
Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh's electorate grew by over 84 lakh to 13.39 crore after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), according to the final voter list published on Friday.
Addressing a press conference at the Lok Bhawan Media Centre here, Uttar Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said the SIR exercise was conducted from October 27, 2025, to April 10, 2026, covering all 75 districts, 403 assembly constituencies and polling stations across the state.
He said the 166-day exercise was carried out with the contribution of 75 District Election Officers (DEOs), 403 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 12,758 Assistant EROs, 18,026 BLO supervisors and 1,77,516 Booth Level Officers (BLOs). In addition, 5,82,877 booth-level agents of recognised political parties and crores of voters extended cooperation.
Print, electronic and digital media also played a key role in awareness efforts, he added.
Rinwa said the draft electoral roll published on January 6, 2026, had a total of 12,55,56,025 voters, including 6.88 crore male voters, 5.67 crore female voters and 4,119 third gender voters.
The number of voters in the 18-19 age group stood at 3,33,981, while the gender ratio was 824 female voters per 1,000 male voters.
The final electoral roll published on April 10 shows the total number of voters at 13,39,84,792, he said.
Of these, male voters number 7,30,71,071 (around 54 per cent), female voters 6,09,09,525 (45.46 per cent) and third gender voters 4,206 (less than 0.01 per cent).
The number of voters in the 18-19 age group has risen to 17,63,360, accounting for 1.32 per cent of the total electorate. The gender ratio has also improved to 834 female voters per 1,000 male voters.
Comparing the draft and final rolls, Rinwa said the total increase in the number of voters is 84,28,767. This includes an increase of 42,27,902 male voters, 42,00,778 female voters and 87 third gender voters.
The 18-19 age group registered a rise of 14,29,379 voters, while the gender ratio improved by 10 points from 824 to 834, he said.
Among districts, Prayagraj recorded the highest increase in voters at 3,29,421, followed by Lucknow at 2,85,961, Bareilly at over 2,57,000, Ghaziabad at 2,43,666 and Jaunpur at 2,37,590.
The CEO said the successful completion of the revision exercise reflects coordinated efforts by election officials, political parties and voters across the state.
