Bengaluru: The Karnataka Cabinet, during a recent meeting, gave its nod to three out of the five recommendations put forth by the Bhaktavatsala Committee. The Bhaktavatsala Committee, a two-member commission, was tasked with examining the political underrepresentation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and proposing measures for their political empowerment in urban and rural local bodies.

“Justice Bhaktavatsala Commission’s report contained five recommendations, and out of these, three have been accepted while two have been rejected,” law and parliamentary affairs minister HK Patil, in a press briefing told reporters on Thursday.

According to the official government statement on the cabinet meeting, the cabinet has decided to accept recommendations which include continuation of the policy of political reservation, reserving 1/3rd (33%) of total seats in upcoming Urban and Local Bodies Elections for OBCs; providing reservations for the positions of mayor and deputy mayor in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in favour of individuals from Other Backward Classes; and in a structural change, all Urban and Local Bodies Election departments will now fall under the administration of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR).

The Bhaktavatsala Committee was entrusted with the responsibility of studying the political underrepresentation of OBCs and identifying eligible communities for political representation in urban and panchayat bodies. Additionally, it had to recommend the quantum of reservation for OBCs alongside the reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, all while ensuring that the overall reservation does not exceed the constitutionally mandated 50% ceiling. This study became essential following a directive from the Supreme Court to state governments to substantiate OBC reservations in local bodies with empirical data.

The committee submitted its comprehensive report to former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in July 2022.

The two recommendations that were not accepted include the proposal to extend the term of office for the mayor and deputy mayor to 30 months and the suggestion to review the reclassification of “Backward Classes” Category-A and B into two additional categories of “Backward Classes” for the purpose of more effective reservation in favour of OBCs.

Minister HK Patil, speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, highlighted, “The cabinet today approved the recommendation to bring urban local bodies and panchayat raj elections under the administrative reform department. Previously, the election commission was coordinating with the panchayat raj department, but now it will be managed under the administrative reforms department. The State Chief Election Commission will also be discussing matters with the administrative reforms department moving forward.”

The decision comes as Congress leaders have demanded the release of the caste survey report. Following the release of a caste survey report by the Bihar government on Monday, political pressure is being built from within the ruling Congress on the party-ruled Karnataka government to release the findings of the caste survey done in 2015. The leak of the report before 2018 state assembly elections had showed that the proportion of two dominant castes in Karnataka, Lingayats and Vokkaligas, was much as against their perceived population number. Similarly, OBCs in the state were slated to be at 20%.