Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin, has strongly advocated for the removal of the 50 percent cap on reservation in both employment and education. He emphasized that individual states should be granted the autonomy to determine the percentage of reserved positions.
In his address at the second national conference of the All India Federation for Social Justice, Stalin also urged the government to extend reservations to the private sector. Additionally, he called for the release of the Socio-Economic Caste Census data from 2015.
Stalin emphasized the importance of proportional representation and reservations for marginalized communities, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. He proposed prioritizing students from these communities in admissions to prestigious institutions such as IIT, IIM, and IISc.
Furthermore, Stalin suggested the creation of a Social Justice Committee to address the concerns of SC, ST, and OBC employees.
Taking a dig at the BJP-led government, Stalin criticized its handling of the 27 percent reservation for backward classes in government jobs during its nine years in power. He questioned the BJP’s commitment to uplifting marginalized communities and highlighted the party’s historical opposition to reservations, including the controversy surrounding the Mandal Commission report in 1990.
Stalin asserted that the current support for reservations by figures like Mohan Bhagwat is driven by political motives in anticipation of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.