PMK to hold talks with TN government on February 3 over Vanniyar reservation

The administrative committee of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on Sunday said it will take a final call on continuing the alliance with AIADMK after holding talks with the state government on February 3.

For the past two months, the PMK has been demanding separate 20 per cent reservation for Vanniyars, whose interests it represents.

“Particularly for Vanniyars there is not sufficient opportunities given either in education or in employment. In 1989, the then DMK government gave 20 per cent reservation to 108 castes, including the Vanniyars. The reservation should have been meant only for the Vanniyars. But the government has shared that 20 per cent reservation with 108 castes. This is the root cause of the problem today. That’s why we are fighting for separate reservation of 20 per cent,” the party said in a statement.

Starting December 1, 2020, the TMK has organised protests on nine occasions to highlight their problems, the statement said.

“On December 1, the state government held discussions with Dr Anbumani Ramadoss [the founder of TMK], but no decision was made. On December 22, ministers Thangamani and KP Anbalagan met Dr Ramadoss at his residence. Then on January 8, a three-member committee headed by party’s state president GK Mani met the chief minister. On January 11, ministers Thangamani and Velumani held talks with Ramadoss at his residence. But no fruitful results came out of these talks. At some point, Dr Ramadoss came down from demanding separate reservation to sub-quota reservation. But the government has not considered even that,” said the statement.

On January 9, the administrative committee of the party said that before the beginning of the assembly session, the government should come up with a decision on the matter. But the government did not do so.

It was against this backdrop that the committee met on January 31. On the night of January 30, ministers Thangamani, Velumani, CV Shanmugam and Anbalagan met Dr Ramadoss at his residence and discussed the issue.

“We have passed a resolution today that we will take a final call on political matters after seeing the results of the talks with the government on February 3,” said K Balu, advocate and spokesperson of the party.