SC Sub-Quota Bill cleared, jobs freeze nears end

OB Bureau

The Karnataka Assembly cleared the Karnataka Scheduled Castes (Sub-Classification) Bill, 2025 this week. Beyond political chest-thumping, the move has real administrative impact.

Its passage is expected to lift the freeze on government appointments imposed last November, when fresh recruitments were put on hold pending a decision on internal reservation within Scheduled Castes. The issue was also a key promise in the Congress government’s manifesto.

Piloting the Bill, Social Welfare Minister Dr H.C. Mahadevappa said a Supreme Court order in August 2024 had finally empowered states to implement internal reservation within the 17% quota for SC communities. He added that the law provides flexibility to revise the reservation matrix if required in the future.

The debate quickly slid into a credit war. Deputy Leader of Opposition Arvind Bellad argued that it was the previous BJP government under Basavaraj Bommai that first announced internal reservation. This drew a sharp counter from IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge, who asked why the BJP failed to implement it, pointing out that there was no legal backing until the Supreme Court ruling last year.

Bellad also objected to the government’s move to revise the reservation matrix, particularly the one %earlier earmarked for nomadic and other minor SC communities. He urged the government to strictly follow the internal reservation formula recommended by the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission while granting promotions in government jobs.

Concerns poured in from across the aisle. JD(S) legislator Suresh Gowda sought reservation for SC communities in proportion to their population. BJP MLA Krishna Nayak warned that the five %allocation to Category-C communities could be diluted to accommodate nomadic tribes.

Adding another twist, Basavaraj Rayareddi, economic adviser to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, suggested increasing the overall SC reservation from 17 to 18% to ensure Category-C communities are not short-changed.

The Bill follows a Cabinet decision last week to split the 17% SC quota among 101 communities: six %each for SC Left (Category-A) and SC Right (Category-B), and five %for 63 other SC communities (Category-C). Three non-categorised castes, Adi Andhra, Adi Dravida and Adi Karnataka, will be allowed to opt for either Category-A or B.

With the law now passed, the spotlight shifts from politics to implementation and whether the long-stalled promise of internal reservation finally delivers on the ground.

 

 

HL: Second airport plan stuck on runway

 

OB Bureau

The Karnataka government and potential airport developers are yet to respond to the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) pre-feasibility report for a second airport in the city, the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Parliament said this week.

Replying to a question by Bangalore Central BJP MP P.C. Mohan, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the Centre has received no proposal so far, despite AAI completing studies on three shortlisted sites for a greenfield airport near Bengaluru.

“Based on the request of the Government of Karnataka, AAI conducted pre-feasibility studies of three sites for development of a second airport in Bengaluru. The report has been sent to the state government. However, the Government of India has not received any proposal thereafter, either from the state or from any airport developer,” Mohol said in the Lok Sabha.

The minister underlined a major contractual roadblock. As per the concession agreement between the Centre and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), no new or existing airport, barring the development of Mysuru and Hassan as domestic airports, can operate within a 150-km aerial radius of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) before the airport completes 25 years.

Any new airport within that radius, or even the reopening of the HAL airport, would require BIAL’s consent, Mohol added.

The three locations shortlisted by the Karnataka government are Chudahalli and Somanahalli in Bengaluru South taluk, and a site near Magadi–Nelamangala in the newly created Bengaluru South district. An AAI expert team examined these sites in April this year and submitted its report to the state government last month.

State Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil had earlier said that while the AAI team’s recommendations would be considered, airport construction companies would also independently assess the feasibility of the sites.

The state government has maintained that groundwork must begin now, keeping in mind the BIAL agreement that restricts a second airport until 2033. “If we start early, the second international airport can be ready by 2033. Such projects take at least five to six years,” Patil had said.

At present, only Delhi (Noida) and Mumbai (Navi Mumbai) operate two international airports. Karnataka, Patil noted, is also watching developments closely, including Tamil Nadu’s plan to build an airport at Hosur, just across Bangalore’s border.

 

HL: 17,059 govt vehicles await scrapping

 

OB Bureau

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy told the Legislative Council this week that the State government has approved a plan to scrap government vehicles older than 15 years, with 17,059 such vehicles still awaiting disposal.

Responding to a query from Congress MLC Govinda Raju in Belagavi, Reddy said that as of December 4, 2025, the registrations of 18,552 government vehicles over 15 years old, excluding transport corporation buses, had already been cancelled by the Central government on the Vahan portal. Of these, 1,493 vehicles have been scrapped at authorised facilities, while the remaining 17,059 are yet to be junked.

The minister also said State transport corporations have scrapped 3,212 old buses since April 2023, with 579 more buses still due for scrapping.

On the issue of private vehicles older than 15 years, Reddy said the matter would be taken up with the Home Minister and Transport Department officials. He pointed out that while the Centre has made scrapping mandatory for vehicles over 15 years old, private vehicles have been given a five-year extension subject to fitness certificates; a relaxation that does not apply to government vehicles.

 

The discussion then shifted to the State’s electric bus fleet, with Reddy flagging serious concerns over frequent breakdowns. Replying to a question from Congress MLC Ivan D’Souza, the minister said transport corporations had been forced to cut trips due to poor performance of electric buses supplied under the gross cost contract (GCC) model.

“There are 1,957 electric buses in the State, and over 14,000 breakdowns have been reported so far, mostly linked to battery issues,” Reddy said, adding that diesel buses continued to outperform their electric counterparts. He said he had written to Union Minister for Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy flagging the issue.

“Electric buses are eco-friendly, but they have come with their own problems,” the minister admitted, as the State grapples with cleaning up both its ageing fleet and its green ambitions.