Chennai, June 9:
PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss on Monday urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to ensure appropriate reservation for the Vanniyar community in the state by conducting a caste-wise census.
Social justice in Tamil Nadu should not be a mere political slogan but an action plan that provided opportunities to the oppressed and disadvantaged, he said.
The government should collect accurate data on the education, employment and economic status of the Vanniyar community, which is listed in the Most Backward Classes (MBC) category, and provide appropriate reservations accordingly, the Pattali Makkal Katchi founder said.
“In Tamil Nadu, under the (present) reservation system, 20 percent quota is being provided to the MBC and Scheduled Castes. This benefit is shared by various communities. In this context, the demand for separate internal reservation for the Vanniyar community, which has the largest population, has been raised for many years,” Ramadoss said in a statement here.
In 2021, the then AIADMK government announced a 10.5 percent reservation for the Vanniyar community. However, the Supreme Court struck it down saying that the reservation was not based on sufficient social data. “The court did not rule against the reservation, but rather stated that it was not legally valid if it was given without accurate statistics and social studies,” he claimed.
All political movements claiming to establish social justice in Tamil Nadu today, especially the political leaderships emphasising social equality, and the ruling party should realise the condition of the Vanniyar community. Based on the National Sample Surveys and various studies, many families belonging to the Vanniyar community living in rural areas were still in a low income category.
“The Tamil Nadu government should immediately conduct a complete caste-wise socio-economic census at state level to establish social justice. The ruling TVK had announced to conduct a caste-wise census in its election manifesto. So, it is necessary to implement them in this (upcoming) legislative Assembly session itself,” he said.
A caste census should be conducted and all the statistics including population, education level, employment status, land ownership, income and representation in government jobs of each community should be made public.
Based on that data, the extent of internal reservation required for the Vanniyar community should be scientifically determined. As an interim arrangement, the government should explore ways to legally provide the 10.3 percent internal reservation provided earlier, he urged.
Similarly, the reservation policies should be restructured taking into account the real social and educational backwardness of all communities in Tamil Nadu.
“Social justice is not against any community; rather, real social justice is providing appropriate opportunities to every community according to their backwardness,” the PMK leader stressed.
He urged the Tamil Nadu government to immediately conduct a caste-wise socio-economic census to ensure appropriate reservation for the Vanniyars, whom the PMK claims to primarily represent, and create equal development opportunities for all communities in the state.