Is there a reservation for Tamils in other states?
On August 14th, Chief Coordinator of Naam Tamilar Katchi, Seeman, said in a press conference, “Caste wise census should be taken and language wise census should be done to inform how many people of us Tamils are in Tamil land. Those who have ruled this land for a long time are not the original inhabitants of this land, everyone who comes and goes enjoys reservation. Apart from that, there are 63 residents in Denotified Communities, out of which 5 are Tamil residents. Who enjoys that reservation?”.
A journalist questioned “there is a reservation for Tamils in Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh” and “Roja, who is a minister in Andhra Pradesh, has bought 3 percent reservation for Tamil Mudaliyar”.
Regarding this, a study by Youturn about the reservation system followed in the neighbouring states of Kerala, Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka and whether the reservation is given to the migrant Tamils is as follows:
Andhra Pradesh
In Andhra Pradesh, 29 per cent of the reservation is given to BCs and minorities, 15 per cent and 6 per cent to SCs and STs respectively. While talking to the Andhra Pradesh Revenue Department officials, “if a family resides in Andhra Pradesh for 7 to 10 years, they will first get their residence proof and family card exchanged. Later, caste certificates are issued following the norms specified by the government as to what their caste is considered to be in Andhra Pradesh”, they said.
When a family migrates from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh, if they want to get a caste certificate for their son’s education after ten years, it is said that the person for whom the caste certificate is being procured must be born in Andhra Pradesh.
The Journalist’s question in Seeman’s press meet is asked to the revenue officer on whether Andhra Minister Roja has brought reservation to Tamil Mudaliars, he said that there is no such reservation.
The OBC category of Andhra state includes Agnikula Kshatriya, Vannikula Kshatriya, Agamudayar, Sengundar, Vanniar, Vannia.
Telangana
Telangana has a reservation system of OBCs into 5 categories of 7, 10, 1, 7 and 4 percent respectively for a total of 29 percent, 15 percent for SCs, 6 percent for STs and 10 percent for EWS. A Telangana revenue official said that Telangana is following the same rules as Andhra regarding migrants.
Backward class of Telangana includes Agnikula Kshatriya, Agamudayar, Agamudaya Mudaliar, Agamudaya Vellalar, Vannia, Sengundar in Division D. 47 communities in Category D are being given 7 percent reservation.
Kerala
In Kerala, 40 per cent reservation is given to OBCs and 8 and 2 per cent to SCs and STs respectively. In this, we contacted the officials of the Kerala Revenue Department to see if any reservation is given to the people who have migrated to Kerala from other states. They said that there was a reservation for those who migrated to Kerala till 1950 and not for those who migrated recently.
Karnataka
When we searched for the reservation in Karnataka for migrants from Tamil Nadu, we found that communities including Agamudi, Ambalakaran, Kallar, Maravar, Vedan, Vannan, Nadar, Vanniar, Vannikula Kshatriya, Agnikula Kshatriya, Kambar and Kaniyar are considered under reservation scheme.
Tamil Nadu
We spoke to a Tahsildar in Tamil Nadu to find out whether people from outside the state are enjoying reservations in Tamil Nadu as Seeman said.
He said, “A person migrating to Tamil Nadu from another state should apply for residence proof after living here for one year and after 5 years they should cancel the family card in their hometown and apply for a family card in Tamil Nadu. A family card will be issued if they are eligible and after this one can apply for a caste certificate.
Based on the category they got reservation in their home state, reservation in Tamil Nadu i.e. caste certificate will be given. Tamilnadu Government formulated rules and regulations. Those rules would have mentioned that people belonging to say, a caste category in the home state would come under a specific caste category in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Also, Seeman’s talk of 63 Denotified Communities is wrong. There are 68 recognized Denotified Communities by the government and only 5 of them are Tamil castes. It is not clear on what basis the people are classified as Tamil castes.
From speaking to the officials of each state it is clear that one cannot move from one state to another and immediately get reservation rights. A caste certificate is given to the migrants following the rules of law and then the reservation is allowed.
Update
Earlier we had wrongly mentioned in this article that there is no reservation for migrants from Tamil Nadu in OBC category in Karnataka. But we have now corrected and updated that reservation for OBC category for Tamilnadu people is available in Karnataka.
Links
https://bcdd.kerala.gov.in/en/reservation/employment-reservation/
http://www.bareactslive.com/AP/ap694.htm
https://www.tspsc.gov.in/FAQ.jsp
