The Karnataka government on Friday scrapped the 4 per cent reservation for OBC Muslims in jobs and education and split it between the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, the two important political constituencies in the state.
Muslims eligible for quota have been categorised under economically weaker sections now.
The announcement by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai comes just a month before Assembly election is scheduled to be held in the BJP-ruled state.
The decision pushes the reservation percentage in Karnataka, which is already over the 50 per cent cap imposed by the Supreme Court, to approximately 57 per cent.
“We have taken some important decisions. A cabinet sub-committee recommended the changes in quota categories and we have done it,” said Chief Minister Bomai.
Backward classes have been reorganised into two sets, “more backward and most backward classes”, he added.
Quotas for religious minorities would be done away with and brought under the 10 per cent pool of the EWS group without any change of condition.
