Expressing disappointment over the delay in increasing the percentage of quota for Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka, leaders of the community have called for protests at taluk and district levels in May.
B. Shivappa, a retired IAS officer, representing the forum fighting for increase in the quota, addressed a press conference in Hassan on April 28. He said Valmiki Prasannananda swamiji had been staging a protest for the last 77 days in Bengaluru on the issue, but the Karnataka Government is yet to respond.
The reservation for Scheduled Tribes was fixed at 3% in Karnataka in 1958, considering the number of tribes and the population prevailing then. “There were only nine tribes. Over the years, the population has increased, as new tribes were included. As per the 2011 census, the population of STs stands at 42.48 lakh, accounting for 7% of the population. The Karnataka Government should have increased the quota without necessitating protests on the issue,” he said.
