Karnataka - Bangalore   

Backward classes panel to be formed soon

T.S. Ranganna and Nagesh Prabhu

`Two members from each of the coalition partners can be nominated to it'

T.S. Ranganna

and Nagesh Prabhu

Bangalore: Nominations to the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, which has not had a chairman or members since the Janata Dal (S)-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government came into being, will be made in a few days.

Social Welfare Minister Balachandra L. Jarkiholi told The Hindu that he had sent the file on the appointment of a chairman and four members of the commission to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy four months ago.

Suggestion

Mr. Jarkiholi said he had suggested that two members from each of the coalition partners could be nominated to the commission.

The Minister said he would hold consultations with Mr. Kumaraswamy to complete the process of nominations at the earliest.

A lot of work, such as a survey of castes among the backward classes, has to be done by the commission.

Its functioning came to a halt when the previous chairman, Siddagangaiah, and the members put in their papers following the fall of the N. Dharam Singh government, he said.

Grant for survey

Mr. Jarkiholi said that the Union Government had given a grant of Rs. 20 crore for the caste-wise survey for which the State Government had sanctioned Rs. 3 crore.

The survey could be finished within three months if there was a chairman to oversee the work. Asked whether a separate reservation category would be created for the smaller groups among the 101 backward classes now under Category 2A as demanded by the former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda, Mr. Jarkiholi said the matter would be discussed in the Cabinet.

Mr. Gowda's contention is that Kurubas and Idigas, who are classified under Category 2A have cornered most of the reservation benefits to the detriment of other castes.

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