India’s Karnataka state scraps 4.0pc Muslim quota in jobs, education

The government of India’s Karnataka state has removed the 4.0 per cent reservation for backward Muslims in jobs and education.

The state has distributed the 4.0 per cent quota offered for Other Backward Classes (OBC) Muslims among the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, the dominant communities of the state, according to India-based news outlets.

Muslims in the state eligible for quota have been categorised under 10 per cent economically weaker sections (EWS) now. With the latest change, the Muslims will now have to compete with EWS quota, which has Brahmins, Vysyas, Mudaliyars, Jains and others.

Karnataka’s Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai made the announcement on Friday just a month before assembly election is scheduled to be held in the BJP-ruled state.

"We have taken some important decisions," Mr Bommai told reporters today. "A cabinet sub-committee recommended the changes in quota categories and we have done it," he said.

Mr Bommai said backward classes have been reorganised into two sets - "more backward and most backward classes".

One of the two new categories is that the quota for Vokkaligas has been raised from 5 per cent to 7 per cent. The quota for the other categories, including Panchamasalis, Veerashaivas and other Lingayats, has also been increased from 5 per cent to 7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Sunni Ulema Board has decided to legally fight the decision to withdraw the 4 per cent reservation offered to Muslims,

Karnataka State Board of Auqaf chairman Shafi Saadi said on Saturday that the community might even have to hit the streets demanding the BJP government reinstate the reservation.

“I am confident that the state government will withdraw the decision,” he said, adding that scrapping the reservation was not legally valid. If grouped under Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Muslims will have to struggle to get their rightful share in reservation, he said. “We might even have to hit the streets over the issue,” he said.