Chennai: The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a political party representing the Vanniyar community on Saturday appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to expedite the process for providing the community 10.5 per cent quota within the existing 20 per cent reservation for Most Backward Classes (MBC).
Dalits and Vanniyars are the two major communities constituting 40 per cent 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 here.
Ramadoss, who led the PMK delegation, told reporters that the Supreme Court had struck down the 10.5 per cent internal reservation. 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 the 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 per cent 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 per cent quota for Vanniyar community within the existing 20 per cent reservation for the MBCs, upholding the Madras High Court verdict that it is unconstitutional.
The new legislation for Vanniyars was brought by the previous AIADMK government on February 26, 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. (PTI)
