Amidst the ongoing demands and opposition to include the Kurubas under the Scheduled Tribes category, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Tuesday that the overall quota for STs would have to be increased if the community were to be brought under the category.
The remarks came amidst calls by a few Valmiki community (falling under the ST category) groups to boycott the Valmiki Jayanthi celebrations held on Tuesday, to protest the state government’s stance, which is considered to be in favour of including Kurubas in the ST list.
In his address during the Valmiki Jayanthi celebrations, Siddaramaiah said one should not secure benefits by taking them from another community. This was in response to allegations that granting ST status to Kurubas would hinder the progress of the Valmiki community – the most numerous ST group in the state.
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On the row over the inclusion of Kurubas under the ST category, Siddaramaiah said the current demand to include Kurubas under ST was not initiated by his government. “It was BJP leader K S Eshwarappa who fought for it, after which former CM Basavaraj Bommai recommended it to the Centre. The Centre has only sought some clarifications on that recommendation,” he added.
The chief minister also pointed out that he and former MP V S Ugrappa appealed to then CM Ramakrishna Hegde to recommend the inclusion of Valmiki and Kuruba communities under the ST list. He said that though Hegde forwarded the request to the Centre, it did not materialise then.
“Later, through the efforts of Ugrappa, and with the support of (former PM) H D Deve Gowda and then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, the Valmiki community was included under ST,” he said.
The Kuruba community, to which Siddaramiah belongs, are among the most populous in Karnataka with a population of around 50 lakh. They currently fall under the Other Backward Classes category in the reservation matrix of the Karnataka Government.