After HC cancels 56% SC/ST quota in jobs, education, Karnataka seeks PM Modi's help

Detailed summary

G Parameshwara urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to constitutionally protect Karnataka's enhanced SC-ST reservation law. The demand seeks parity with Tamil Nadu and a lasting answer to the 50 per cent ceiling.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate a constitutional amendment to include the state's 2022 law increasing reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The law raised reservation for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent. Parameshwara has also written separately to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar, seeking their intervention.

In his November 12 letter to the Prime Minister, Parameshwara said, “The principles of social justice and cooperative federalism must command equal respect across the States of our Union.” He argued that Karnataka's request deserved the same constitutional consideration as Tamil Nadu's 69 per cent reservation framework.

The Karnataka High Court, in its October 12, 2026 judgment, struck down the provisions that increased reservation for SCs and STs. It held that the total reservation of 56 per cent exceeded the prevailing ceiling of 50 per cent. The court also examined the requirement to consult the National Commissions for SCs and STs.

The Karnataka government has challenged the judgment in the Supreme Court, Parameshwara said. He added that an enduring solution was needed through appropriate legislative and constitutional processes.

According to PTI, Parameshwara said the enhanced reservation was based on the recommendations of a commission headed by retired Karnataka High Court judge H N Nagamohan Das. The commission was formed to examine the representation of SCs and STs in education and public employment.

He said reservation percentages for the two communities had remained unchanged for nearly seven decades since 1958, despite an increase in their population and continuing social and educational disadvantages.

The 2011 Census recorded SCs and STs as accounting for about 17.15 per cent and 6.95…

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