KPSC TOWN PLANNING · KARNATAKA · RESERVATION CADRES

Quick answer: Every KPSC town-planning cycle splits its posts into two separate vacancy blocks - the Residual Parent Cadre (RPC), open statewide, and the Kalyana Karnataka (KK) cadre (formerly called Hyderabad-Karnataka, HK), reserved for candidates connected to Karnataka's Kalyana Karnataka region. They are notified, filled and scored separately. In the one cycle with a full category-wise breakdown for both cadres (Assistant Town Planner, 2022), the Kalyana Karnataka cadre's lowest selected mark sat about 8.5 marks below the Residual Parent Cadre's on the same 200-mark paper - a real, verified gap, not a guess.

What the Two Cadres Are

Article 371J of the Constitution of India empowers the Governor of Karnataka to make special provision for equitable development opportunities and government positions for the state's Kalyana Karnataka region (the six districts formerly known as Hyderabad-Karnataka: Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Bidar and Ballari). In practice, for KPSC town-planning recruitment, this means every cycle's total posts are split into two independently-run blocks:

  • Residual Parent Cadre (RPC) - open to eligible candidates statewide.
  • Kalyana Karnataka (KK) cadre - a separate set of posts, with its own category-wise reservation table, its own selection list, and its own lowest-selected-mark bar.

This paragraph is general constitutional and administrative context, not a figure from KPSC's own documents. Every number below this point is verified against the source notifications and select lists.

How Big Is Each Cadre? (Verified Vacancy Splits)

Cycle Residual Parent Cadre Kalyana Karnataka KK share of total
Assistant Director, 2020 10 regular + 6 backlog = 16 3 regular + 2 backlog = 5 24%
Town Planner, 2021/22 18 5 (final list) / 2 (notification extract) 18-22% (sources disagree)
Assistant Town Planner, 2022 50 10 17%

Category-Wise Vacancy Split: Assistant Town Planner (2022)

This is the only cycle where both cadres' full category-wise breakdown, including horizontal reservations, is available - verified from the notification annexure.

Category RPC (of 50) Kalyana Karnataka (of 10)
General Merit 25 5
SC 8 1
ST 1 0 (no ST post in this cadre)
Category-1 2 1
2A 8 2
2B 2 1
3A 2 0
3B 2 0

Within these totals, both cadres also carry horizontal (cross-cutting) reservations for Women, Rural, Ex-servicemen, PwD, Project-displaced and Kannada Medium candidates. The Kalyana Karnataka block has no PwD or Ex-servicemen sub-quota in this cycle; the RPC block does.

The Score Gap: Same Exam, Different Bar

Because each cadre is filled independently, the lowest selected mark can differ even though every candidate sat the identical paper. Here's every cycle's comparison, verified from the final select lists:

Cycle RPC lowest selected mark Kalyana Karnataka lowest selected mark Gap
Assistant Town Planner 2022 (/200) 85.25 (42.6%) 76.75 (38.4%) 8.5 marks
Town Planner 2021/22 (/600, derived) 251.25 (41.9%) 217.50 (36.3%) 33.75 marks
Assistant Director 2020, regular (/420) 130.00 (31.0%) 168.50 (40.1%) RPC lower by 38.5 marks

The gap isn't always in the same direction. In two of the three cycles the Kalyana Karnataka lowest selected mark sat below the RPC's; in the 2020 Assistant Director regular block, it was the reverse - the RPC bar was lower. Don't assume either cadre is uniformly "easier"; check the specific cycle. Full per-category figures for every cadre and cycle are in our complete marks breakdown.

Framing note: these are lowest selected marks, reconstructed from final select lists - not official KPSC cut-offs. KPSC does not publish cut-off marks for these exams.

What This Means If You're Eligible for Kalyana Karnataka Reservation

If you qualify for the Kalyana Karnataka cadre, you are choosing to compete within a separate, smaller vacancy pool with its own category-wise split and its own score bar - not simply getting an easier version of the same exam. In two of three cycles that bar was lower; in one it was higher. The practical takeaway: check both cadres' figures for the specific post you're targeting, rather than relying on a general assumption either way.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Kalyana Karnataka cadre in KPSC recruitment?

A separate vacancy block, alongside the Residual Parent Cadre, reserved for candidates connected to Karnataka's Kalyana Karnataka region under Article 371J of the Constitution. It has its own category-wise reservation table and its own selection list.

Is the Kalyana Karnataka cadre easier to get selected in?

Not consistently. In the 2022 Assistant Town Planner and 2021/22 Town Planner cycles, the Kalyana Karnataka lowest selected mark was below the Residual Parent Cadre's. In the 2020 Assistant Director cycle's regular block, it was the opposite - the Residual Parent Cadre bar was lower.

Does the Kalyana Karnataka cadre have the same categories as the RPC?

Mostly, but not identically. In the 2022 Assistant Town Planner cycle, for example, the Kalyana Karnataka cadre had no ST, 3A or 3B posts and no PwD or Ex-servicemen sub-quota, while the Residual Parent Cadre had all of these.

Is "cut-off" the correct term for these scores?

No. KPSC does not publish official cut-off marks for these exams. The figures on this page are the lowest mark among candidates actually selected for a given category and cadre, reconstructed from the final select list.

Related Resources

Disclaimer: vacancy and score figures are verified against official KPSC notifications and final select lists. The 2021/22 Town Planner cycle's Kalyana Karnataka vacancy count is disputed between two source documents and is presented as such, not resolved into a single figure.