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Bengaluru, Oct 9 (IANS) Tribal leaders, at a meeting held at MLA Bhawan in Bengaluru on Thursday, demanded that steps should also be taken to provide internal reservation to Scheduled Tribes. After the meeting, tribal leaders met Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa, Law Minister HK Patil and state Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh and submitted a memorandum.
More than 30 tribal leaders from 12 districts attended the meeting.
BJP MLC Shantaram Siddi said, “The historic decision given on August 1, 2024, on internal reservation had stated that internal classification should be done within the Scheduled Castes as well as the Scheduled Tribes. However, the Karnataka government has gone ahead with the process of implementing internal reservation only for the Scheduled Castes.”
MLC Siddi pointed out that unlike the case of Scheduled Castes, there is a serious issue in the implementation of reservation among Scheduled Tribes. Small tribes, micro tribes, vulnerable tribes and dominant communities are all put together in a single category.
As a result, many tribal communities have been deprived of the benefits of the government’s reservation system. The government should immediately take note of this and form a commission headed by a retired judge to ensure scientific distribution of ST reservation, said Dr. J.D. Gowda, a professor from the Soliga community.
The memorandum emphasized that the state government should take seriously the Supreme Court’s observation that when unequals are grouped with equals, reservation becomes an illusion for the last person in line.
The delegation was led by MLC Shantaram Siddi, Dr. Ganesh Bettakurubba, Hasalar Muthappa, Kudiyar Mittu Ranjan, Shivraj Yerrava, Raju Iruligaa, Hakkipikki Kamaraj, Thyagaraju, HV Chandrasekhar (Marathi Naik community), SN Ashok, KS Mahesh, Goudalu Chetan, MC. Yogisham and Samarasyvedike Vadirajah.
By October 2025, the Karnataka government has formally implemented internal reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), following the Supreme Court decision, dividing the 17 per cent SC quota into three new sub-categories. The decision is based on a modified version of the Justice HN Nagamohan Das Commission report.
The government’s new internal reservation policy has received mixed reactions and protests from various communities. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched indefinite protests in September 2025, alleging that the Congress government’s policy has created injustice and merged disparate communities.
Banjara and Bhovi communities held “Bengaluru Chalo” protests, arguing that the new classification is “unscientific” and denies justice to nomadic and semi-nomadic groups.
–IANS
MKA/PGH