Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: State tables Bill to provide 4% quota for Muslims in public contracts, and more

The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2025 was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on March 18 to introduce 4% reservation for Muslims in public contracts, including civil works valued up to ₹2 crore, and goods and services contracts up to ₹1 crore. The proposal was announced by CM Siddaramaiah in the 2025-26 State Budget.

At present, Karnataka provides 24% reservations in civil works contracts for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 4%, for OBC Category 1, and 15% for OBC Category 2A. There had been demands to include Muslims under Category 2B of the OBCs with a 4% quota. The principal opposition BJP termed the government’s move an ‘unconstitutional misadventure’ and ‘appeasement politics’.

Terming Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) a ‘den of corruption’, MLAs cutting across party lines demanded a major surgery and a comprehensive set of reforms to ensure transparency in the conduct of examinations and in the recruitment of civil servants. On March 18, S. Suresh Kumar demanded constitution of a House committee to study the conduct of examinations and the recruitment of gazetted officers at the national level and in States such as Maharashtra.

“A simple, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent governance is totally missing in the KPSC. A set of qualifications is needed for appointment of members to the statutory body,” said the BJP MLA who held a dharna before the KPSC opposing irregularities in the KAS examination.

The Deputy Commissioner, along with Revenue officials and police, visited the farm land of Union Minister for Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy at Kethaganahalli in Ramanagara district on March 18. They initiated the process to recover over 14 acres of government land, which has allegedly been encroached upon by the Janata Dal (Secular) leader.

Heavy machinery, including JCBs and tractors, carrying survey stones to mark the recovered land has been moved into the farm land amidst tight security. Officials said that the special drive was initiated following instructions of the High Court of Karnataka. An SIT, comprising officials from the Revenue Department, survey team and police, has been formed to execute the operation.

In Karnataka, the trend of children abandoning their old parents in government hospitals continues to grow. During a recent meeting, Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) Director Ashok Kumar Shetty informed Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil that as many as 152 men and women have been abandoned by their children and relatives in two years.