Present an interim report on 10.5% internal reservations for Vanniyars within MBC quota: Ramadoss

Dr. S. Ramadoss criticizes Backward Classes Commission for delaying Vanniyar reservations, urges government to act promptly.

PMK founder Dr. S. Ramadoss on Wednesday criticised the Backward Classes Commission for seeking one year extension to recommend 10.5% reservations of Vanniyars within the 20% reservations for Most Backward Classes after the original deadline expired and said that the Commission’s act of treating the ‘Vanniyar reservations’ like a football was condemnable.

In a statement, he said that providing 10.5% reservations to Vanniyars was a ‘straightforward procedure’ but the DMK government was deliberately complicating it.

“When the Vanniyar reservation obtained during the previous AIADMK regime was cancelled by the Madras High Court, the Supreme Court, upon appeal, clearly stated that there was no obstacle to providing reservation to Vanniyars. The term “pertinent, contemporaneous data” mentioned in paragraph 68 of the Supreme Court judgment means “current, relevant statistics” and not caste-wise statistics. Collecting statistics based on this judgment to provide Vanniyar reservation could be done in a month,” he said.

Dr. Ramadoss said that work done by the Tamil Nadu government and the Backward Classes Commission in the 18 months since they were assigned the task of studying internal reservation should be presented as an interim report before seeking an extension. “If any work has been done, it should be submitted as an interim report before requesting additional time. Instead, both the government and the commission are wasting time, which is an act of deceiving Vanniyars,” he said.

He said that the “path laid out by the Supreme Court for granting 10.50% reservation to Vanniyars in education and employment in Tamil Nadu was clear” and urged the Tamil Nadu government and the Backward Classes Commission not to mislead repeatedly.

Anbumani meets BC panel chief

Meanwhile, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss met Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission chairman retired Justice V. Bharathidasan, to reiterate the importance of safeguarding the 69% reservations in Tamil Nadu and urge him to resolve the issue of 10.5% reservations for Vanniyars within Most Backward Classes quota.