Karnataka: Banjara community protests internal SC quota, demands fair share

Hundreds of members of the Banjara (Lambani) community gathered in Kalaburagi on Thursday to protest the Karnataka government's decision to introduce internal reservation among Scheduled Castes (SCs). The demonstration, organised under the banner of the Karnataka Pradesh Banjara Lambani Seva Sangha, began with a procession from Banjara Bhavan to the Deputy Commissioner's office, accompanied by traditional drum beats and flags inscribed with 'Jai Sevalal'. Protesters carried placards demanding the withdrawal of the roster-point system and called for justice for their community.

The protesters blocked traffic for about an hour while staging a sit-in on the road in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office, disrupting movement between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Circle and Jagat Circle. They also raised slogans criticising political leaders for remaining silent and targeted the Congress government over its internal reservation policy.

Addressing the gathering, Subhashchandra Rathod, president of the Judo Banjara Foundation and a former judge, outlined four demands. He noted that seven or eight legal challenges to internal reservation are pending before courts and urged the government to continue all recruitments under the earlier reservation system until these cases are resolved.

Mr. Rathod proposed that if internal reservation proceeds, the 101 SC communities should be divided into two groups as per the Supreme Court's judgment. Communities inadequately represented in education and employment should be placed in Group A and receive legal benefits, while the remaining communities should go into Group B, with internal reservation distributed accordingly.

He also opposed the government's decision to allocate 5.25% each to Groups A and B and 4.5% to Group C within the total 15% SC reservation. Instead, he demanded an equal 5% share for each of the three groups.

Protesters further demanded that if the A, B, C classification is retained, the 63 communities placed in Group C should receive 4% reservation, with the share specifically allocated to the Banjara, Bhovi, Korcha, and Korama communities. An additional 1% should be earmarked for the 59 nomadic communities, they said.

The demonstrators also called for the withdrawal of all recruitment notifications and circulars issued under the new internal reservation arrangement until the issues are resolved. They urged the government to conduct recruitment without applying internal reservation, as stated in its notification of February 27, 2026.

A memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, listing these demands, was submitted to the Deputy Commissioner's office. It sought a review of the Cabinet decision of August 19 regarding the classification of the 101 SC communities and subsequent notifications on reservation allocation and roster points.

Community leaders and activists, including Bhaliram Maharaj, Khemsing Rathod, Mata Latadevi, B.B. Naik, Vishal Naik, P.G. Rathod, Anand Chavan, Dhanraj Rathod, Karan Chavan, Vishal Pawar, Anil Pawar, Shyamrao Pawar, Arjun, and Krishnappa Kaladevaru, participated in the protest.

The internal reservation policy, introduced by the state government, aims to categorise SC communities into groups to ensure more equitable distribution of benefits. However, the Banjara community contends that the current allocation is unfair and demands a more balanced approach pending judicial review.