Vokkaliga ministers, MLAs demand 12 pc quota for community in govt jobs, college admissions

Belagavi: Karnataka ministers and BJP legislators belonging to the dominant Vokkaliga community on Friday demanded a 12 percent reservation in admission in the state educational institutions and government jobs.

Under the leadership of state Revenue Minister R Ashoka, they submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai here.

Along with the call for reservations, the leaders also put forth some other demands for the welfare of the community.

The Vokkaligas come under the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Karnataka.

“Today, we submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister to increase our reservation from four percent to 12 percent. Though our population is 16 percent, we want 12 percent reservation,” Ashoka told reporters after submitting the memorandum.

There are many people in the peasant community who are living in abject poverty, Ashoka said adding that many Vokkaligas lost their land to various development projects and are financially weak.

According to state Health Minister K Sudhakar, the Vokkaliga ministers and MLAs had a meeting under the leadership of Ashoka where it was decided to put forth this demand.

The demand comes as the state government made a move to increase reservations from 15 percent to 17 percent for SCs and from three percent to seven percent for STs.

Besides, the Panchamasali community among the Lingayat caste has also demanded inclusion in the 2A category of OBCs.