Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday announced a permanent commission for Scheduled Castes to review the categorisation from time to time, based on the mobility of castes within it and available data. Currently, a similar commission for Backward Classes functions in the State. The Chief Minister made the announcement in the Legislature while making a statement on the international reservation cleared by the Cabinet on Tuesday. Defending the Cabinet decision to bring down the number of categories to three from the recommended five, by merging two categories, Mr. Siddaramaiah told the Legislative Assembly that the decision was to ensure social justice and equality among the Scheduled Castes in education, public employment, etc. He said that while the government has decided to withdraw cases against those activists who fought for internal reservation, the Chief Minister also announced that the recruitment process, which has been stopped, will be restarted, and a one-time age relaxation for the eligibility criteria will be given. General census data Stating that the guidelines set by the order of the Supreme Court, which enabled States to implement internal reservation, have been followed, he said that the State government is committed to bringing changes in the categories based on the data that will come out as part of the General Census. “I am happy to present the report of the commission headed by H.N. Nagamohan Das, which has been modified and accepted by the government. We believe that our decision has brought justice to a decades-long struggle. Our government has proved that Karnataka, which is a developed State, is in the forefront of social justice.” Instead of five categories of A, B, C, D and E recommended by the commission, the Chief Minister said that the government has decided to have Category ‘A’ for Dalit Left (Madigas) with 6%, Category ‘B’ for Dalit Right (Holeyas) with 6% and Category ‘C’ for ‘touchables’ (Lambani, Bhovi, Korma, Korcha and 59 microscopic communities) with 5%. Mr. Siddaramaiah said that after identifying that the commission had brought Paraya, Mogera and other castes related to the Dalit Right group with the Dalit Left group, the government had decided to bring them with the Dalit Right and increase the quota for the Dalit Right to 6% (the commission had recommended 5%). The population of 4.74 lakh identified as Adi Dravida, Adi Karnataka and Adi Andhra will be equally divided between the Dalit Left and Dalit Right categories, he added. Mr. Siddaramaiah said that a population of 5.22 lakh belonging to 59 castes, which was given 1% under Category ‘A’, has been grouped with ‘touchable’ castes that the commission has given a 4% quota due to technical reasons, and the quota for this has been raised to 5%. ‘CM running away’ In the Assembly, taking exception to the Speaker not allowing them to seek clarifications on the statement made by Mr. Siddaramaiah and also the Chief Minister leaving the House soon after making the statement, the Opposition BJP on Wednesday accused him of “running away out of fear.” The Opposition BJP-JD(S) members staged a walkout, accusing the Speaker and government of taking away their rights to seek clarification. However, Law Minister H.K. Patil maintained that the internal reservation formula was acceptable to all communities and ridiculed the walkout by the Opposition as a “political drama”. The Legislative Council too witnessed acrimonious scenes with the Opposition BJP members demanding a clarification. The Chief Minister, however, dismissed the Opposition’s demand, stating that the government need not clarify the Cabinet’s decision in the House. Leader of the Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said the Opposition had every right to seek clarification. Intervening, Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said the previous BJP government lacked the guts to announce internal reservation. Mr. Patil said the BJP was not able to stand the fact that all groups, who were demanding internal reservation, are now lauding the government’s decision. Amid a heated debate, Chairman Basavaraj Horatti adjourned the House for a short while.