Tamil Nadu now clears 69 percent reservation for backwards in private educational institutions

Tamil Nadu now clears 69 percent reservation for backwards in private educational institutions

Chennai: The stand-off between the Central Government and the medical community across the country over the reservation of seats for other backward classes may have whimpered out after 19 days, but this has not stopped the Tamil Nadu State Assembly from passing a Bill that now also grants 69 per cent reservation for weaker sections and backward classes in all private educational institutions andother establishments run by minorities.

A State Government notification said on Wednesday that the Bill's approval was done after "careful consideration of the population in the respective categories and the present stage of their advancement in education."

According to its provisions, backward classes will have 30 per cent reservation; most backward classes and denotified communities 20 per cent; Scheduled Castes 18 per cent and Scheduled Tribes one per cent.

Higher Education Minister K.Ponmudi said this decision had to be taken sooner than later.

The four South Indian States -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as well as in Maharashtra and Gujarat have had varying degrees of experience as far as the issue of reservations is concerned. The opposition to reservation of seats in jobs and in education institutions has been marginal or absolutely nil. The overwhelming opinion among the people in these States, and even in "excellence-pursuing" academic circles, supports the principle and practice of reservation. The system seems to have got so embedded in the education sector in almost all these States, that the reaction is notably balanced.

The concept of reservation in education for historically oppressed sections of society took roots in South India over a century ago, along with the freedom movement. That a number of initiatives associated with the freedom struggle in this region had their lineage in the social reform movement against caste discrimination.

This concept was first advanced by Tamil Nadu, where the social and political assertion of OBCs and other deprived sections led to the creation of the powerful Dravidian movement. Reservation in education and public service began in the Madras Presidency (much of it is now in Tamil Nadu) as early as 1831. The British Raj initiated this in response to petitions from various public groups. Over the next few decades the provisions of reservation were progressively redefined and modified, correcting anomalies and rationalising affirmative action.

The process continued after Independence too and successive governments under the leadership of Dravidian parties such as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) introduced "rationalising" classifications like "economic scale" and Most Backward Castes (MBCs). The sum total of these measures was that reservation in the educational institutions in Tamil Nadu rose to 69 per cent, a figure commensurate with the total population of S.C.s, S.T.s, OBCs and MBCs in the State.

Tamil Nadu had 69 per cent reservation even before the Mandal Commission recommendations, promoting 27 per cent reservation for OBCs, were introduced at the national level. In this context, the Supreme Court came up with a stipulation seeking to limit reservation in educational institutions to 50 per cent. This order was a result of efforts by a number of anti-reservation organisations and individuals trying to bring down the reservation quota in Tamil Nadu. But the cumulative initiatives taken by various governments led by the Dravidian parties successfully resisted these counter-moves. The net result of all this is that since 1994, Tamil Nadu's 69 per cent reservation has the sanction of being part of the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution and hence is beyond judicial scrutiny.