NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, OCT 22
Accusing the government of not paying heed to people’s grievances, ruling AIADMK’s ally Pattali Makkal Katchi on Thursday said it would hold an unprecedented, massive protest next year demanding 20 per cent exclusive reservation for Vanniyars.
ஆந்திரத்தில் ஜெகன்ரெட்டி சொன்னதை செய்கிறார்; சொல்லாததையும் செய்கிறார். ஆனால், இங்குள்ள ஆட்சியாளர்கள் மக்களின் கோரிக்கைகள் குறித்து எதையும் சொல்ல மறுக்கிறார்கள். சொன்னாலும் அதை கண்டு கொள்வதில்லை….. செய்யவும் மறுக்கிறார்கள்!#JaganMohan #Andhra
— Dr S RAMADOSS (@drramadoss) October 22, 2020
Those who held the reins of power in Tamil Nadu declined to say anything on people’s representations and do not pay heed to their grievances, PMK founder S Ramadoss said on his twitter handle.
The demand for 20 per cent reservation for Vanniyars was four decades old, Ramadoss said in a Facebook post adding his party’s request for exclusive quota was not fulfilled by both previous dispensations and those who were in power now.
The Vanniyars, also known as Vanniya Kula Kshatriyas are among the 35 plus castes that fall under the Most Backward Classes in Tamil Nadu and they, alongside the Denotified Communities are provided 20 per cent reservation out of the total 69 per cent quota.
Northern Tamil Nadu, including Vellore, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Chengelpet, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram is considered the heartland of the Vanniyars. Ramadoss said in the new year (2021), protest for 20 per cent exclusive reservation for Vanniyars would be started adding the agitation being planned would be on a massive scale and “unseen in history.”
The massive scale of agitation would prompt the government to request them to call off the protest and sign an agreement for exclusive reservation for Vanniyars, Ramadoss said and urged the youth, women and all others to gear up from now onwards for the protest to retrieve the rights of Vanniyars.
In a statement, the PMK leader lauded the AP government for constituting welfare boards for the development of 56 kinds of backward classes and wanted the model to be replicated in Tamil Nadu for the state’s sustained growth. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy fulfilled what he promised and also what he had not committed, he said. The AP model was the first step towards achieving several demands of his party aimed at social justice, he said.
Such longtime demands include caste based census of people in Tamil Nadu, reservation to castes on the basis of their population, identification and implementation of sustained development goals for every caste and an Equal Opportunities Authority for the growth of all communities, he said.
The PMK leader lamented that both people who had occupied the seat of power previously and those who now governed (DMK and AIADMK) Tamil Nadu were “denying” complete social justice. He accused them of not addressing the lacunae in reservation matrix and for not carrying out caste-wise census.
