The government will give 4% reservation to Muslim contractors. Know who is preparing to implement this proposal?

The Karnataka government will soon come out with a proposal to provide 4 per cent reservation to Muslim contractors. About a year ago, the government had come up with this proposal but withdrew it after controversy and allegations of appeasement politics. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is trying to implement it again. According to the proposal, Muslim contractors will be given 4 per cent reservation in public civil works. The government's move is being seen as a strategy to strengthen the support of minorities, backward classes and Dalits.

The Siddaramaiah government is planning to amend the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1999, during the ongoing budget session to implement the reservation. The Finance Department has prepared the blueprint and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil has approved the amendment. At present, 24 per cent reservation in contracts for civil works is applicable for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), 4% for Other Backward Classes (OBC) category-1 and 15% for OBC category-2A. All these together constitute a total of 43% reservation. Now if Muslims are given 4 percent reservation under Category-2B, the total reservation will increase to 47%. Also, the maximum contract limit for contractors who will benefit from this reservation will also be increased to Rs 2 crore.