Act Info:
THE KARNATAKA RESERVATION OF APPOINTMENTS OR POSTS (IN THE CIVIL SERVICES OF THE STATE) FOR RURAL CANDIDATES ACT, 2000
[Act, No. 1 of 2001]
[4th January, 2001]
PREAMBLE
An Act to provide for reservation of appointments or posts (in civil services of the State) for rural candidates.
WHEREAS the Government by notification No. DPAR 5 SRR 92 dated 31st March 1992 inserted a new rule 3B in the Karnataka Civil Services (General Recruitment) Rules, 1977 providing for weightage to rural candidates in the form of an addition of fifteen marks to the total marks secured by them, for the purpose of direct recruitment to posts in Group C and Group D in the Civil Services of the State and defining a rural candidate as a person who has studied and passed the Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination in any of the schools situated in rural areas having population of less than 20,000 as per the 1981 census;
WHEREAS the aforesaid provision was modified from time to time and by the Notification No. DPAR 59 SRR 96 dated 28th April 1997, the said weightage was modified to be an additional of ten percent to the percentage of marks secured by a rural candidate and it was extended for the purpose of direct recruitment to the posts in Group A and Group B also and the term "rural candidate" was defined as a person, who has studied in the State of Karnataka,-
(i) from first standard to tenth standard where the qualifying examination prescribed for a post was S.S.L.C or higher; or
(ii) from first standard to the qualifying examination where the qualifying examination prescribed for a post was lower than S.S.L.C.,
- in a school situated in an area or town with a population of less than 50,000 as per 1991 census;
WHEREAs the aforesaid amendment was questioned in the High Court of Karnataka in W.P. No. 13157/98 and the Learned Single Judge declared the said rule 3B of the karnataka Civil Services (General Recruitment) Rule, 1977 providing for weightage of marks to rural candidates as void and violative of Articles 14, 15 and 16;
WHEREAS the State Government preferred an appeal to the Division Bench, which dismissed the appeal by its judgement dated 26.11.1999 and against it, the Government further filed special leave petition before the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court also dismissed the special leave petition;
WHEREAS the Division Bench has held that giving ten percent of marks as a rural weightage is arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India and has further observed as follows:-
"The State has not placed any material on record to show that they have made any comparative study regarding the schools in the rural areas, their standard of education, teaching methods etc., It is well known fact that even in urban areas the education standard of children of hut dwellers and other economically and socially backward classes is not of same standard as of rural areas";
WHEREAS the Government constituted a Commission of Inquiry consisting of Justice R. Ramakrishna, a former Judge of the High Court, as Chairman and some other members to examine various aspects relating to rural candidates;
WHEREAS the Commission has given its report in which it has observed that both from the point of view of available schooling facilities as well as infrastructural facilities in the existing school, it is evident that children in rural schools suffer from a serious handicap as compared to children in urban schools and further it has recommended to have a legislation to provide for further reservation of five percent over and above the reservation already provided to the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the other Backward Classes to the extent of fifty percent;
WHEREAS the Supreme Court in the case of Indra Sawhney Vs. Union of India has held that the reservation under Article 16(4) shall not exceed fifty percent of the appointments or posts barring certain extraordinary situations explained therein;
AND WHEREAS the Government after a careful consideration of the above matter have taken a policy decision that there shall be provided horizontal reservation for the rural candidates as defined in the Act, to the extent of ten percent of the vacancies in all direct recruitment in each of the categories of the General Merit, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and in each of the categories of Other Backward Classes;
BE it enacted by the Karnataka State legislature in the fifty first year of the Republic of India as follows:-