K’taka decides to abolish 4 per cent reservation for religious minorities, places them in EWS category

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Friday announced its decision to abolish the four percent quota for ‘religious minorities’ and add it to the existing quota of two dominant communities of the poll-bound state.

The four percent reservation will now be divided into two equal parts and added to the existing quota for the Vokkaligas and Lingayats for whom two new reservation categories of 2C and 2D were created during the Belagavi Assembly Session last year.

The cabinet decided to bring religious minorities under the EWS category.

The decision comes ahead of the assembly elections.

Briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the religious minorities quota would be done away with and brought under the 10 percent pool of the EWS group without any change of condition.

“The four percent (reservation for minorities) will be divided into two between 2C and 2D. The four per cent reservation for the Vokkaligas and others will enhance to six percent and Veerashaiva Panchamasali and others (Lingayats), who were getting five percent reservation will now get seven percent,” the CM explained.