CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday told the State Assembly that the DMK government will ensure 10.5 per cent reservation for the Vanniyar community by presenting appropriate data just as the government did in the case of the 7.5 per cent reservation for government school students in medical admissions.
Replying during the discussion on a special mention about the status of the 10.5 per cent reservation after the recent Supreme Court verdict, the Chief Minister said, "The Supreme Court has clearly said that the Tamil Nadu Assembly and the State government have the powers to provide the 10.5 per cent reservation."
The Chief Minister said though the legislation for providing the reservation was enacted by the previous regime, the DMK government had engaged renowned lawyers and argued the case well. The SC had commended the way in which Tamil Nadu lawyers had presented the written arguments along with documents.
Stalin said that the recommendation for internal reservation was given in the year 2012 and the legislation was introduced in a hasty manner and passed just half an hour ahead of the notification for the Assembly election on February 26, 2021. This had led to the SC verdict on this reservation.
The Chief Minister also referred to the observation of the SC that the previous AIADMK government had committed an error in the reservation issue. Also, there was a contention that this reservation would be temporary. "I don't want to engage myself in a debate on these issues now because it is a social justice issue of the State. As such, social justice will be established by consulting legal experts," he added.
Speaking on the issue, Edappadi K Palaniswami said the AIADMK government had constituted a committee headed by retired judge A Kulasekaran for collecting caste data within six months. But since State-wide agitations were held demanding immediate reservation for the Vanniyar community, the government had enacted the legislation for 10.5 per cent reservation.
When this reservation was challenged before the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, the DMK government had failed to engage senior lawyers to argue the case. Also, the data from the Ambasankar Commission was not submitted before the court and hence, the court had quashed the reservation.
PMK leader GK Mani, K Selvaperunthagai (Congress) and T Velmurugan of Thamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi also urged the State government to ensure the 10.5 per cent reservation for Vanniyars.