Bengaluru, 20 April

The Karnataka government has convened a special Cabinet meeting on 24 April to discuss internal reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), government sources said on Monday.

The meeting was earlier scheduled for 27 March but was cancelled due to the model code of conduct for the assembly bypolls in Davangere South and Bagalkot on 9 April.

With the elections now concluded, the government has decided to proceed.

The discussion is seen as crucial to fill 65,000 vacant government posts, with sources noting that the state has over 2.5 lakh vacancies across departments. Officials said recruitment cannot move forward unless the internal reservation framework is finalised.

The government is also seeking to speed up hiring amid growing unrest among unemployed youth, following a major protest in Hubballi on 24 February this year.

As of April 2026, the state is working on finalising internal reservation within the existing 17 per cent SC quota, proposed to be distributed among 101 sub-castes.

The suggested formula allocates roughly 6 per cent each to SC Left and SC Right groups, and about 5 per cent to other SC communities. The proposal, however, remains under legal scrutiny.

A key legal hurdle is a recent direction from the Karnataka High Court, which has effectively put a hold on the implementation of the enhanced reservation levels introduced under the 2022 amendment Act (17 per cent for SCs and 7 per cent for Scheduled Tribes).

The court has clarified that, until the case is finally decided, recruitment notifications cannot rely on these increased quotas. In practical terms, this means the government must continue with the earlier reservation structure or maintain status quo arrangements while the legality of the enhanced percentages remains under adjudication.

The government has indicated that recruitment processes initiated before November 2025 will be completed under existing legal provisions.

The move follows long-standing demands to address disparities among Dalit groups, supported by a commission based on a statewide survey of 1.07 crore SC citizens.