Bill to provide quota to Arunthathiyars passed

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Bill to provide quota to Arunthathiyars passed
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Express News Service
First Published : 27 Feb 2009 02:31:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 27 Feb 2009 10:55:34 AM IST
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a bill for reservation of three per cent seats to Arunthathiyars in educational institutions, including private educational institutions, in the State. There will also be reservations for appointments or posts in the services under the State in Tamil Nadu within the 18 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes.
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, now convalescing in a hospital after his spinal chord surgery, expressed his joy over the passing of the bill through a letter addressed to the House, which was read out by Local Administration Minister M K Stalin.
Piloting the bill in the House with the thumping of desks from the Treasury bench, Stalin said that the policy of reservation for the social and educational advancement of the people belonging to the Backward Classes in educational institutions in the State and for appointments in its services had been in vogue in Tamil Nadu for a long time.
The representatives of various political parties and social forums representing the Scheduled Castes have requested the State Government to consider providing a special provision for reservation for the group of Arunthathiyars within the reservation provided for the Scheduled Castes as they are in the lowest rung in social and educational fronts in society.
The one-man committee headed by Justice M S Janarthanam considered the issue of providing reservation for Arunthathiyars, within the quota of reservation for Scheduled Castes. The committee has submitted its report to the State Government. The report revealed that the representation of Arunthathiyars, with regard to admissions in educational institutions, professional or otherwise, is rather minimal and the educational opportunities are also knocked away by the upper crust of the hierarchy of castes from among the Scheduled Castes. The term ‘Arunthathiyar’ includes not just Arunthathiyars, but also Chakkiliyan, Madari, Madiga, Pagadai, Thoti and Adi Andhra.
Stalin also said that the State Government had formulated a Rs 22-crore package to provide Arunthathiyars jobs under the selfemployment mode, besides allocating Rs 6.3 crore for buying machinery to remove blocks in manholes in the Chennai Corporation and in nine other corporations in the state by way of helping the scavengers to avoid entering manholes and do manual scavenging.
While AIADMK member K A Senkottaiyan termed the bill as one aimed to make political gains, Deputy Speaker V K Doraisamy, Finance Minister K Anbazhagan, Ministers Parithi Ellamvazuthi and K Ponmudi hailed the bill for its path-breaking nature.