T. NADU ARUNTHATHIYARS RESERVATION ACT (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Polity)

Context: Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu hailed the Supreme Court’s seven-judge Bench ruling, which upheld the Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars Reservation Act, 2009 by a 6:1 ratio, as a significant endorsement of the Dravidian model government.

Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars Reservation Act, 2009

• About: It is a special reservation of seats in educational Institutions including Private Educational Institutions and of appointments or posts in the services under the State within the Reservation for the Scheduled Castes.
• Definitions: “Arunthathiyars” means the castes, Arunthathiyar, Chakkiliyan, Madari, Madiga, Pagadai, Thoti and Adi Andhra within the list of 76 Scheduled Castes notified by the President of India under Article 341 of the Constitution of India by the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 as amended from time to time.
• Reservation of seats: In the sixteen per cent of seats offered to Arunthathiyars within the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes for admission in Educational Institutions.
• Action Taken: In 2008, the Tamil Nadu government decided to implement a 3% internal reservation for Arunthathiyars within the Scheduled Caste quota of 18%.
• Recommendation The decision was based on the recommendations of a committee led by Justice M.S. Janarthanam of the Madras High Court.
• Considerations: The internal reservation aimed to address the social, educational, and economic backwardness of Arunthathiyars within Scheduled Castes.
• Impact of the Reservation Act: Post-implementation, the number of Arunthathiyar students admitted to engineering, arts and science, and medical colleges increased.
• Legal Challenge and Supreme Court Ruling: The Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars Reservation Act, 2009, faced a challenge in the Supreme Court.
• Supreme Court Verdict: In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Act.