Vanniyar Sangam revives demand for exclusive quota

Ramadoss likely to launch protest on September 17

May 07, 2012 12:12 am | Updated July 11, 2016 02:35 pm IST - CHENNAI:

A section of participants at the Vanniyar Sangam Youth Festival atMamallapuram on Sunday.

A section of participants at the Vanniyar Sangam Youth Festival atMamallapuram on Sunday.

Vanniyar Sangam, the association from which the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) was born, has threatened to launch a series of protests demanding 20 per cent exclusive reservation for the community, which is now listed among the ‘Most Backward Communities'.

PMK founder S. Ramadoss, who formed the Vanniyar Sangam in 1980, said he was likely to launch the protest on September 17, to mark the 25 anniversary of the ‘road roko' held in 1987.

Twenty one persons were killed in police firing and the continuous protests forced the DMK government led by M. Karunanidhi to carve out a ‘most backward' quota of 20 per cent in education and employment in 1989.

A resolution, adopted at the Youth Festival of the Vanniyar organisation in Mamallapuram on the occasion of Chitra Pournami, said that the protests that shook the State in the late 1980s succeeded in getting 20 per cent reservation of the 107 communities including the Vanniyars, by grouping them under the head Most Backward Classes (MBC) in the state.

“But it failed to provide the much-needed succour to Vanniyars, as it had to share the benefits with 106 other communities. So our people continue to languish in backwardness,” Dr Ramadoss told The Hindu.

Making a strong case for compartmental reservation, taking into consideration the backwardness and population of each community, as was in vogue in neighbouring Kerala, Dr Ramadoss said all the communities in Tamil Nadu should be given reservation proportionate to their strength. “We need 20 per cent reservation in Tamil Nadu and two per cent reservation in the Central government jobs and educational opportunities,” he further said.

He criticised the ongoing caste census, alleging that the exercise would not give a clear picture of strength of various communities.

“Instead of concentrating on castes, the current exercise is for collecting details on socio-economic and caste details. This might pose a threat to 69 per cent reservation as Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had already accepted the recommendations of Backward Classes Commission Chairman M.S. Janarthanam,” he alleged. Dr Ramadoss also wanted the state government to bring down the working hours of the TASMAC-run retail liquor shops as a first step towards achieving total prohibition in the state.

“A government cannot take pride in increasing its revenue by selling liquor to its citizens. It is a shame. Lakhs of families are on verge of destruction owing to the drinking habit of their family members,” he said.

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