DMK government to implement 10.5% internal reservation to Vanniyars

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government in Tamil Nadu has issued an order to implement the 10.5 per cent internal reservation for Vanniyars, a dominant community in the northern part of the state, within the 20 per cent reservation to MBCs.

The order which will ensure exclusive reservation in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions will come as a boost for Paatali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a party that is influential among Vanniyars who are mostly concentrated in the northern part of the state and some areas in the West and Central regions.

The order comes five months after the previous AIADMK government hurried through legislation to provide 10.5 per cent internal reservation for Vanniyars just an hour before the election schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The legislation was passed by the AIADMK to keep its alliance intact with PMK. But the gamble did not pay off as the AIADMK-PMK-BJP combine lost the polls, apparently due to counter the consolidation of non-Vanniyars. The Bill was opposed by other communities that come under the MBC category.

While moving the Bill, the then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the 10.5 per cent reservation was “temporary” and will undergo changes once the data from a caste-based census is available. The PMK had been demanding internal reservations for members of the community, arguing that many of them still live in abject poverty.

Welcoming the order, PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss thanked Chief Minister M K Stalin for implementing the law that was passed and signed by Governor Banwarilal Purohit. “This (law) will enhance the social and economic status of Vanniyars. This is one of the goals I had been working on for the past 42 years. All my hard work has borne fruit today,” he said in a statement.