Bengaluru: In a new populist move, Karnataka government has decided to introduce reservation in public tender works. A total of 24.10% of the public works under Rs 50 lakh would be reserved for the SC/STs.

Karnataka Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Higher Education Minister TB Jayachandra said a suitable amendment to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1999 would be brought in to provide reservation to the SC/STs in tenders below Rs 50 lakh.

He said as much as 17.15% of the tenders would be reserved for the SCs and 6.95% for the STs. The figures were arrived at based on the population of the two communities.

Jayachandra said the government would come out with a list of the departments that would provide reservation for the SC/STs in the tendering process.

According to a report in “Deccan Herald” these works would be directly allotted to the SC/STs and they would not have to go through the tendering process. The only clause is that the work should not exceed Rs 50 lakh.