The BJP government in Karnataka on Friday decided to increase the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes quota in the state by seeking a constitutional amendment.

The decision, seen as a major one ahead of the Assembly polls, has been taken by the government on the basis of the report of Justice H.N. Nagamohan Das Commission, which has recommended hiking the quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent.

Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai made an announcement to this effect after chairing an all-party meeting that was attended by Congress and JD(S) leaders.

Noting that it was a “long-standing and a just demand” from the communities that the reservation should be based on population, he said: “The Nagamohan Das Commission’s recommendations were discussed at the all-party meeting today and has been approved.”

The cabinet meeting will be convened on Saturday, where a formal decision will be taken in this connection, he added.

The Bommai government was under pressure from SC/ST lawmakers to implement the commission’s report. Also, the Valmiki Gurupeetha seer Prasannananda Swami has been on a hunger strike demanding the ST quota hike.

The Opposition parties had been attacking the government for the delay in implementation.

The commission had given its recommendations to the government in July 2020.

However, following a couple of judgments from the Supreme Court regarding reservation, the government had constituted a committee under Justice Subhash B. Adi on the implementation of the recommendations in accordance with the law and Constitution. The committee has also submitted its report.

“After studying both the reports, the government wanted to take everyone into confidence before arriving at any decision. Hence the all-party meeting was called on Friday,” Bommai said.

At present, Karnataka provides 32 per cent reservation for OBCs, 15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs, totalling to 50 per cent, and the only way before Karnataka to hike the SC/ST quota is via the Schedule 9 route.

“We will introduce it under Schedule 9, because it has judicial immunity. Tamil Nadu did it under Schedule 9 to increase reservation to 69 per cent. We will recommend to the Union government to amend the Constitution,” law minister J.C. Madhuswamy said.