The State government has sought the Advocate-General’s opinion on the issue of reservation in direct recruitment for various government posts through the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC). The development comes even as Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have urged Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to revert to the earlier reservation scheme.
1995 Government Order
Earlier, under a 1995 Government Order, meritorious candidates belonging to communities from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes among others, who qualify for 50% reservation for posts in direct recruitment, were also recruited under the general merit category.
However, citing court directions, the government, in the first week of November, had asked the KPSC to restrict candidates to the community quota irrespective of merit.
This led to protests from the communities as they felt the new rule would curtail their employment opportunities. Following this, the Cabinet, last week, decided to maintain status quo on the issue.
Mr. Kumaraswamy told The Hindu that the Advocate-General’s advice has been sought to know whether there is a need for a new Act, or rules to overcome the present situation.
“We have already lost the case in court. We do not want to approach the issue in a hurry and that’s why we have sought the AG’s opinion,” he said. He explained that the new reservation scheme was based on the court orders of 2016. “We have not taken any decision on our own,” he said.
Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar said that they were expecting legal opinion shortly.
Priyank’s appeal
While Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge had written to the Chief Minister nearly a fortnight ago expressing concern about the impact of the new rule, Mr. Siddaramaiah, on Thursday, wrote to Mr. Kumaraswamy urging him to revert to the earlier system.
