The Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted the Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation (To posts in the Civil Services of the State) Bill, 2017.
Opposition parties BJP and JD(S), however, expressed apprehension about whether the Bill would stand the test of law. They said they were supporting it because of their “commitment to protecting the interests of Dalits”.
Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar accused the government of trying to give false hopes to Dalits with the Bill. Former Chief Minister and JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy accused the government of trying to dodge the actual issue instead of making concrete efforts to help Dalits.
He questioned the logic of coming out with a Bill when the State government itself had filed a review petition in this regard in the Supreme Court. However, Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra, who piloted the Bill, maintained that it was necessary to put legislation in place before the end of the month to provide for the implementation of the Supreme Court directive.
The Bill was necessitated by the Supreme Court’s striking down of Karnataka’s provision for providing reservation in promotions to employees from SC and ST communities, in the case of B.K. Pavitra and others v/s the Union of India and others in a civil appeal filed in 2011.
The court had observed that a proper exercise of determining “inadequacy of representation, backwardness and overall efficiency” was a must for provision of such a reservation. The court had also set a three-month deadline for revising the seniority list.
Subsequently, Karnataka formed a committee led by Additional Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha to collate and study scientific, quantifiable and relevant data. The committee’s report confirmed the backwardness of SC and ST communities, the inadequacy of their representation in the civil services, and that the overall efficiency of administration has not been affected by reservation in promotions.
Kambala Bill
Meanwhile, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Second Amendment) Bill, 2017, which seeks to pave the way for holding Kambala (buffalo slush track race) and “bulls’ race” or “bullock cart race”, was also adopted by the Assembly on Friday. It will replace an ordinance promulgated on July 20.
