Committed to implement internal reservation for SC community, asserts Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru, Aug 28 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday asserted that he is committed to providing internal reservation for the Scheduled Caste community as per the Supreme Court's August 1 verdict.  

"There should be no doubt or scepticism about my commitment to providing internal reservation for the Scheduled Caste community. I have already welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict in this regard. I will consult with legal experts and community leaders before making a decision on the matter. The fact that the Dalit community has unanimously supported and welcomed the implementation of sub-reservation is a positive step," he said in a post in Kannada on X.

“On Wednesday, Ministers K.H. Muniyappa, R.B. Thimmapur, former minister H. Anjaneya, former Rajya Sabha member L. Hanumanthaiah, along with a delegation of Dalit MLAs and leaders, met me to discuss the implementation of sub-reservation. I assured them of my commitment to this cause," he said, sharing photos of the interaction.

"My party, my government, and I have a firm and clear stance in favour of social justice. There is no confusion in this regard. The necessity of sub-reservation for the fair distribution of reservation benefits has become evident to everyone in recent times. The Supreme Court's verdict also reflects this perspective," the Chief Minister added.

"Some confusion has arisen due to the mention of the 'creamy layer' in the Supreme Court's verdict. I will not delve into the court's judgment, but as I understand it, the issue of the creamy layer should not hinder the implementation of internal reservation. My stance on the creamy layer aligns with the overall stance of the Dalit community," he said.

Siddaramaiah appealed to the Dalit community to understand the "malicious intention of the BJP which indulges in spreading rumours and creating confusion".

"Some leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party are making malicious attempts to mislead the Dalit community against our government by unnecessarily creating rumours and speculations regarding the sub-reservation issue. I believe the Dalit community is fully aware of and capable of understanding the deviousness of these BJP leaders, who oppose social justice," he said.

A seven-bench Supreme Court constitution bench, in a 6:1 judgment, overturned a 2004 apex court judgment which had held that the SC/STs were a "homogenous group", to allow the states to sub-classify SC/STs to provide preferential treatment to the disadvantaged groups among them. It had favoured applying the principle of 'creamy layer', as for the OBCs, among the SC/STs too.

--IANS

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