State Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said reservations would apply to Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Parsis. He added that there was no internal reservation within this quota.
Patil said, “The Centre has also given directions. Looking at the greater number of minorities without housing facilities, we have increased the reservation share for them. As per the Sachar Committee report, their situation is poor.”
Patil rubbished the argument that the decision would be seen as “pro-Muslim” since they are numerically the most dominant of all these communities. “Why do you smell political motives in a move that intends to provide housing to houseless people?” he asked.
A document by the Housing Department said a 10% reservation is provided to minorities in the state in the Basava Rural Housing Scheme, Vajpayee Urban Housing Scheme and D Devaraj Urs Special Housing Scheme since 2017. The document stated that a Cabinet sub-committee formed during HD Kumaraswamy-led Congress-JD(S) coalition decided to increase the reservation to 15%.
The opinions of the Law and Finance Departments were sought in this regards. The Law Department approved the decision, and the Finance Department had left the final decision with the Housing Department.
