Quota clubbing worries babus

It is believed in some quarters that the government may place Muslim reservations under Schedule 9 of the Constitution, a provision that will ensure it is protected from judicial review.

Some senior IAS officers and political leaders are exerting pressure on the state government against clubbing enhancement of ST reservations with the quota for Muslims.

They argue that if this is done, the possibility of enhancement of ST reservations facing legal problems will increase.

In TS, reservations have reached the 50 per cent mark and this threshold should not be crossed as per Supreme Court orders.

The state has 6 per cent reservation for STs, 15 per cent for SCs, 25 per cent for BCs and 4 per cent for Muslim minorities.

The government wants to enhance ST reservations from 6 per cent to 9 and for Muslims from 4 to 9 per cent. If this is done, the total reservations would go up to 58 per cent, crossing the Supreme Court-set threshold.

The officials point out that the 4 per cent Muslim reservations are already facing legal hurdles. If this quota is scrapped in court, the state proposal to enhance ST reservations will not face any problem.

They said that if the government clubs ST and Muslim reservations, then it will be left with no options in case of a legal block.

If the TS government wants to follow the Tamil Nadu model, it faces a lengthy path ahead, including getting the Constitution amended.

The Constitution guarantees reservations to STs as per their population in each state.

If the state government keeps the ST and Muslim reservations separate, it can at least implement the enhanced ST reservations and let the courts take a call on Muslim reservations.