PMK stages walkout from T.N. Assembly, demands white paper on caste-based representation in government jobs
The Hindu
PMK members walk out of Tamil Nadu Assembly demanding expunging of remarks on caste-based survey and reservation.
Members of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on Saturday walked out of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly alleging that they had not been provided enough time to discuss caste-based survey and internal reservation for Vanniyars.
After staging a walkout, PMK floor leader G.K. Mani, while speaking to mediapersons, said: “The remarks made by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Law Minister S. Regupathy and Transport Minister S.S. Sivasankar in Assembly that the caste-based survey conducted in Bihar had been struck down by the Patna High Court was against truth. We demanded their remarks to be expunged from the Assembly records.”
Mr. Mani said the Patna High Court had struck down only the increase in reservation from 50% to 65% in educational institutions and government jobs, not the caste-based survey. He said the State government had the power to conduct a survey to enumerate the social and economic status of people living in Tamil Nadu under the provisions of the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008. He demanded the State government to release a white paper on caste-wise employment benefits availed through reservation in State government jobs.
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