TN sets aim on minority quota

SEAT RESERVED: Chief Minister M Karunanidhi says reservation is for social justice.

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Keywords: M Karunanidhi, Reservation

Chennai: Tamil Nadu, which perhaps has one of the highest reservations in the country, may soon have another quota.

The state government plans to introduce exclusive reservations for religious minorities, said Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Assembly on Thursday.

"Once the case pending in the Supreme Court on the 69 percent reservations issue comes to an end, Tamil Nadu would take all necessary legal measures to implement reservations for religious minorities," he said.

The reservations would be implemented based on the recommendations of the Justice Janardhanan commission on backward classes. The commission has take into account the statistics brought out by an earlier commission on the percentage of backward classes amongst Muslims and Christians.

"We will do it after the SC order. It will be within the existing 69 percent reservation," said M R K Paneerselvam, Minister for Backward Classes.

The state currently has 30 percent reservations for backward classes, 20 percent for most backward classes, 18 percent for Scheduled Castes and 1 percent for Scheduled Tribes.

Religious minorities in the state now come under backward classes and the move would treat them separately. The Andhra Pradesh government had proposed a similar plan but the Supreme Court rejected it.