Supreme Court had struck down TN legislation carving out a 10.5% quota for Vanniyars within the 20% reservation for MBCs.
Published Feb 18, 2023 | 10:25 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 18, 2023 | 10:25 PM
PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin at their meeting. (Twitter)
The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which represents the Vanniyar community, on Saturday, 18 February, appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to expedite the process for providing the community 10.5 percent quota within the existing 20 percent reservation for Most Backward Classes (MBC).
Dalits and Vanniyars are the two major communities constituting 40 percent of the state’s population, PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss claimed.
“If they progress, then Tamil Nadu will progress,” he said after calling on the chief minister at the secretariat in Chennai.
Ramadoss, who led the PMK delegation, told reporters that the Supreme Court had struck down the 10.5 percent internal reservation.
தலைமை செயலகத்தில் இன்று மாண்புமிகு தமிழ்நாடு முதலமைச்சர் திரு. மு.க.ஸ்டாலின் அவர்களை சந்தித்தேன். MBC மற்றும் வன்னியர் உள் ஒதுக்கீடு சட்டத்தை விரைவில் கொண்டுவரவேண்டும் என வேண்டுகோள் விடுத்தேன். pic.twitter.com/q2vzNcc1G6
— Dr ANBUMANI RAMADOSS (@draramadoss) February 18, 2023
After coming to power, the DMK government reconstituted the BC Commission and in January this year, the government had passed an order mandating the commission to collect data and submit its report to the state government in three months’ time, he said.
“One month has already passed. So, we called on the chief minister and urged him to expedite the process of gathering particulars and to ensure the Vanniyars were provided 10.5 percent reservation in education and employment from this year onwards,” Ramadoss said.
Asked if any political issues were discussed, the former Union minister replied, “No politics was discussed. The meet was only about the internal quota for Vanniyars.”
In March last year, the Supreme Court struck down Tamil Nadu’s legislation carving out a 10.5 percent quota for the Vanniyar community within the existing 20 percent reservation for the MBCs, upholding the Madras High Court verdict that it was unconstitutional.
The new legislation for Vanniyars was brought by the previous AIADMK government on 26 February, 2021, hours before the state Assembly election was announced.
“We requested the chief minister to ensure social justice. This reservation will not harm anyone nor is it against any community,” Anbumani said.
