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Panel recommends 3 per cent reservation for Arundathiyars

— Photo: M. Vedhan

HONOUR: Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Catholic Bishops Conference of India secretary-general Stanislaus Fernandez, in Chennai on Sunday. Vincent Chinnadurai, secretary, Santhome Kalai Vizha 2008, looks on.

CHENNAI: The M.S. Janardhanam panel, which studied the modalities of providing reservation for Arundathiyars within the existing quota for Scheduled Castes, has recommended 3 per cent reservation for the community.

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi made the announcement on Sunday at a function organised by the Santhome Communications Centre to present him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Having received the panel’s report, he had discussed it with his Ministers, who had asked whether the implementation could not be delayed.

However, the Chief Minister said that the recommendations would be implemented immediately, as the basic purpose and job of his government was to uplift the oppressed.

The panel had gone into all aspects of the issue in detail and recommended that 3 per cent out of the 18 per cent reservation for the SCs could be devolved to the Arundathiyar community, which included the sub-sects Chakkiliar, Madhari, Adi Andhrar, Pagadai, Madiga and Thotti.

Mr. Karunanidhi said the State Cabinet would meet on November 27 to discuss and take a final decision on the recommendations. The government had taken legal steps to implement the reservation, he added.

Recalling the announcement made in the Governor’s address to consult all political parties to provide separate reservation for Arundathiyars, who “carry night soil on their heads, enter manholes to remove the blockages and garbage,” the Chief Minister said an all-party meeting was convened on March 23.

The panel, appointed on March 25, submitted its report on November 22.

The Chief Minister said the State government had been implementing various schemes for the welfare of the Arundathiyars.

“The leather goods and tannery workers welfare board and the Tamil Nadu government sanitary workers welfare board have been created. The separate reservation, a pioneering attempt in the country, will pave the way for social and educational uplift of the community,” he said.

Penning a poem in praise of the recommendations, Mr. Karunanidhi said the DMK government, which abolished hand-pulled rickshaws, would also change the fate of those who carried night soil on their heads. “I keep the report of Justice Janardhanam on my head,” he said.

Welcoming the recommendation, CPI(M), which organised many struggles in support of separate reservation for the community, said the party was not able to understand why some sub-sects and their population were not included in the list of Arundathiyars. The party’s State secretary N. Varadarajan said his party had given the details about various sub-sects to the State government and Justice Janardhanam.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by Stanislaus Fernandez, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, who also praised the Chief Minister’s support for the Christian community as well as marginalised communities. “A just and equitable society requires justice for all,” he said.

The Santhome Communications Centre presented Mr. Karunanidhi with a cheque for Rs. 10 lakh toward the fund for Sri Lankan Tamils. The Santhome Awards are being revived after a gap of ten years to recognise media organisations and professionals which promote moral, social, cultural and spiritual values focussed on the development of the State. A number of such awards will be presented during the Santhome Art Festival.

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