The Karnataka government, headed by the state chief minister Siddaramaiah, is mulling over the possibility of the provision for the 4% reservation of Muslims in the government tender for the civil constructions till ₹ 1 crore.
This proposal, according to the news agencies, would increase the existing 43 percent reservation that Karnataka offers to the contractors in government contracts; 24 percent for SC/ST contractors, 4 percent for Category-1 OBC contractors, and 15 percent for Category 2-A OBC contractors. A further provision, if added, would increase the total reserved quota to 47% of university seats; Muslim students might also fall under the newly proposed Category-2B.
Some of the political organizations have formulated a wide range of responses to the said proposal especially to the existing reservation structures among the Vokkaliga and Lingayat factions in Karnataka. As one news agency has stated, these groups are pressing on the Karnataka State Contractors Association to vent its spleen to the state government while collective disgruntlement over resource distribution has grown.
Besides the above-proposed quota for Muslim contractors, it also instituted a roster-based random system for awarding contracts. This system is targeted at achieving equitable distribution with the contractor’s selection sequence coming from a variety of categories such as the SC/ST, Category-1 and Category-2A. This would make the contract allocation process more transparent and efficient.
Nevertheless, the proposal has received much resistance from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A senior BJP leader, Amit Malviya, condemned the Siddaramaiah government and opined that it compromises the constitution where religion-wise reservation is granted. Malviya asked Modi whether his quota of 4 percent would mean fewer chances for SC, ST, or OBC contractors.
For similar reasons, he has expressed concerns about such policies affecting Muslims in Telangana’s social investments in the disadvantaged sections. Malviya accused Congress of seeking Muslim votes, saying it demonstrated ‘abominable disrespect’ to the constitution’s stand against religion-based reservations.
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