Just before the election code of conduct kicked in on Wednesday, the Karnataka government promulgated an ordinance to increase the ceiling for tender works from ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore for SC/ST contractors.
N Mahadevaswamy, president, Karnataka SC/ST Contractors Association, welcomed the government decision and said it would benefit a large number of SC/ST contractors. For the past couple of years, the Association has been demanding the government to increase the ceiling for tender works from ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore for SC/ST contractors. Back in 2016, Congress government had introduced reservation in public tender works. A total of 24.10% of the public works under ₹50 lakh would be reserved for the SC/STs.
The government recently increased the quantum of reservation to SC and ST communities from 15% to 17% and for STs from 3% to 7%. It also introduced internal reservation for various sections of Scheduled Castes under four categories.