Anbumani meets CM, seeks caste census to retain 69 per cent quota

Anbumani along with his party leaders met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and submitted their representation demanding caste census in the state. 

Later, addressing reporters, Anbumani said that Tamil Nadu is the pioneer in social justice which provides 69 per cent reservation. “The history of reservation started in the 19th century in Tamil Nadu and in 1927 the Madras government provided 100 per cent reservation,” he said. 

Pointing out that after Independence no reservation was provided and in 1951, after the efforts of Periyar the reservation was re-introduced in Tamil Nadu. In 1971, 49 per cent reservation was provided by former chief minister M Karunanidhi. The percentage was extended to 68 in 1980 by former chief minister MG Ramachandran and was further extended to 69 per cent by Karunanidhi. He included 20 per cent reservation for Most Backward Classes and one per cent for Schedule Tribes (STs). 

“However, in 1992, in the Indira Sawhney case the Supreme Court directed that the reservation should not exceed 50 per cent, but former chief minister J Jayalalithaa gave immunity to the 69 per cent reservation by including the reservation under ninth schedule of the constitution.”

The efforts of Jayalalithaa too were challenged in several cases but in the recent case the Supreme Court had questioned the validity of the 69 per cent reservation given in the state. This is a serious challenge to the reservation and to the social justice prevailing in the state. 

The Amba Shankar Commission had clearly stated that 87 percentage of the people in Tamil Nadu are backward classes and below that and had justified excess reservation given in the state. The cases are repeatedly threatening the 69 per cent reservation status and so the state government should immediately undertake caste census to justify the claims of Amba Shankar Commission, said Anbumani. He also said that the Karnataka government had earlier carried out a caste census in just 45 days and Rs 147 crore was allotted for the exercise.