Explained: Why Vanniyar reservation issue may backfire on PMK, AIADMK

On February 28, a day after a bill to provide 10.5 per cent internal reservation to the Vanniyar community was passed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, a video of PMK’s Rajya Sabha MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss went viral. The junior Ramadoss was seen sitting on a chair and chatting over phone and breaking down into tears. Presumably on the other side was his father, Dr S. Ramadoss, hearing him on the Vanniyar reservation issue. “Forty years of struggle. Finally, we succeeded. If we fight more, we can get more for our people,” Anbumani was heard saying in a trembling voice.

A day after the governor gave the nod for the bill providing internal reservation to Vanniyars, which was passed in the state Assembly, Ramadoss’s PMK went all the way to call on the AIADMK leaders Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to sign the electoral agreement.

The PMK got 23 seats in the AIADMK-BJP alliance. The poll pact was signed amicably unlike earlier. The PMK is apparently known for hard bargaining till the last minute during every election. “We agreed for 23 seats because the government under EPS (Palaniswami) implemented the 10.5 per cent internal reservation demanded by us,” Dr Ramadoss said.

However, neither the Ramadosss nor the PMK headed by them took to celebrating the achievement. The PMK, which protested violently for reservation by pelting stones on running trains in December 2020, did not prefer to take out a 'success rally' or organise a conference to announce the achievement.

The Vanniyar reservation bill

The new bill was passed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly just minutes before the election notification. The bill envisages 10.5 per cent quota for Vanniyars in education and employment within the reservation for Most Backward Classes (MBC) and De-Notified communities (DNC). Briefly called the Special Reservation Act of 2021, it was framed after the state government had consulted the chairman of the State Backward Classes Commission, M. Thanikachalam, on the possibilities of providing internal reservation among the MBCs and the DNCs within the existing 20 per cent reservation ceiling.

The 20 per cent was given under the Tamil Nadu Act 45 of 1994, which deals with entire reservation of 69 per cent for Backward Classes, MBCs, DNCs, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. And now as per the latest special bill, the Vanniyars, called as the Vanniyakula Kshatriya community, will be given 10.5 per cent within the 20 per cent category and the other two groups, MBC-DNC and MBC, will be provided with 7 per cent and 2.5 per cent reservation, respectively. There are around 107 communities in the MBC-DNC and MBC categories across the state.

With elections round the corner, most political parties did not oppose or support the move, making apparent the complexities involved in the issue. Incidentally, the DMK was critical, saying it first proposed it. DMK’s long-time ally, VCK led by Thol Thirumavalavan, criticised the move, saying it dilutes the reservation under the MBC category. CPI(M)’s state secretary K. Balakrishnan said it was done for “short-term political mileage”. However, in a state like Tamil Nadu, which talks about social justice, the Vanniyar reservation has only created discomfort within the existing caste equations.

Does reservation lead to counter-polarisation?

In north Tamil Nadu, where the Vanniyars are the majority community, the bill has led to counter-polarisation. In the northern districts comprising Chengalpet Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Cuddalore, Villupuram and parts of Salem, the opportunities of Vanniyars, which was 20 per cent, will now shrink to 10.5 per cent. And the other MBC communities and the dalits, in the north who also benefited by reservation, will now only get 7.5 per cent.

In education, for instance, in an arts college if there are 1,000 seats, under the reservation quota, the Vanniyars and others under the MBC category would get close to 200 seats under reservation. If suppose there are no takers from the DNCs and other communities, the entire chunk of 200 seats will go to Vanniyars. Also, the unfilled seats in the OBC category can be shared among the Vanniyars and DNCs. Now with the new bill, even this will shrink.

On the other side in the southern districts, where the Thevars are the majority community, the Vanniyar reservation issue has led to unrest, as it will reduce every opportunity for a section of the Thevars who come under the MBC category. When the Vanniyars take away 10.5 per cent of the reservation, the remaining will have to be shared by them, which reduces their opportunities in south Tamil Nadu also. “The 20 per cent reservation, which was existing earlier, gave opportunities to MBCs and DNCs spread across the state. But now, it has reduced their opportunities,” tells Aazhi Senthilnathan, journalist and linguistic activist.

Kulasekaran Committee, Ambashankar Commission

When the PMK went to protest seeking exclusive reservation for the Vanniyar community, Chief Minister Palaniswami went on to set up a commission to carry out a caste-based survey in Tamil Nadu. The commission headed by retired justice A. Kulasekaran was set up to collect caste and tribe-wise quantifiable data pertaining to various social, educational, economic and political parameters. However, with the government now announcing the 10.5 per cent internal reservation, the purpose of the commission has turned out to be pointless.

“There is no quantifiable data or statistics available to prove if the Vanniyars were benefited by the 20 per cent reservation and if they will definitely be benefited through this 10.5 per cent. We do not know how much was the Vanniyar percentage in the 20 per cent. An assessment should have been done before giving out the internal reservation,” says Senthilnathan. Incidentally, with this announcement, the reservation, which was flexibly enjoyed by 108 communities, had been made rigid, points out Senthilnathan.

The government apparently relied on the Ambashankar Commission report, 1982, and also the 1970 A.N. Sattanathan Commission. While Ambashankar Commission estimated the strength of the Vanniyars as 13 per cent way back in 1982, the district collector's report then estimated the strength of the Vanniyars as 8 per cent. “The internal reservation is now total injustice to the MBC-DNCs as it failed to segregate the reservation based on caste proportion,” tells political analyst Raveenthran Thuraisamy.

Political impact

Senior advocate Arvind Datar argued in the Supreme Court on Monday that a move for reservation will go against the equality principle enshrined in the Constitution. The argument came up while the justices were hearing a case against the Maratha reservation demand in Maharashtra.

So the reservation bill, though beneficial to the section of the Vanniyars in North Tamil Nadu who want to get into educational institutions and get jobs, has disturbed the caste equations across the state and is expected to reflect electorally against the AIADMK-BJP-PMK alliance. Combined with the legal challenges posed to the existing 69 per cent reservation ceiling, the Vanniyar quota bill might end up a damp squib.