In the midst of demands on reservation by various communities, the Vokkaliga community has officially demanded an increase in reservation from 4% to 10% in the Backward Classes category 3A. It has also sought a Vokkaliga development authority with a corpus fund of ₹1,000 crore.
Terming the caste census conducted by the backward classes commission in 2016-17 “politically motivated”, religious heads of the community have urged the government not to accept it.
On Monday, Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan and Revenue Minister R. Ashok (both belonging to the Vokkaliga community) visited Adichunchanagiri Mutt in Bengaluru to receive a memorandum from the mutt seer, Nirmalananda Swami, Spatikapuri Mutt seer Nanjavadhoota Swami and other community leaders.
“The demand to include all 115 subsects of Vokkaliga in the Backward Classes list and the demand for the authority will be discussed with Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa. An appropriate decision will subsequently be taken. The government is committed to meeting the demand,” Mr. Ashok said. He added that the memorandum has pointed out that 3A category means 4% reservation, which has to be shared among 12 communities. Since the community constitutes 17 % of the State’s population, the reservation has to be increased to 10%, the memorandum stated.
The memorandum has also urged the State government to recommend to the Centre the inclusion of urban Vokkaligas in the Central OBC list. It stated that lakhs of Vokkaligas, who had surrendered their lands for the city’s development, were now living in slums.
Horticulture and Youth Affairs Minister K.C. Narayan Gowda, Food and Civil Supplies Minister K. Gopalaiah, Bangalore Development Authority chairman S.R. Vishwanath, and a host of Vokkaliga legislators were present.
