De-notified Communities seek DNT status
MADURAI, JANUARY 22, 2019 00:00 IST
Representatives of De-notified Communities presenting their arguments before the committee constituted to examine the request for change of nomenclature from DNC to De-notified Tribes in Madurai on Monday.G. MoorthyG_Moorthy
Representatives of different De-notified Communities (DNCs) in the State strongly presented their demand for reclassifying them as De-notified Tribes.
Appearing before the committee constituted to examine the request for change of nomenclature from DNCs to DNTs here on Monday, they said the Tamil Nadu government wronged them through an order in 1979 that changed the nomenclature from DNTs to DNCs. The socio-economically backward communities had been stripped of all benefits, including reservation, availed by DNTs elsewhere in the country.
P. Ayyakannu, who previously led protests by a group of Tamil Nadu farmers in Delhi, said that the 68 communities that formed part of the DNC list were ostracised and stigmatised during the British rule through the Criminal Tribes Act and were later brought under DNT status to improve their socio-economic condition through affirmative action. “However, the benefits were taken away in Tamil Nadu alone. We are not asking anything new, but to restore the status that prevailed till 1979,” he said.
P.V. Kathiravan, former MLA of Usilampatti constituency, said that these communities had not witnessed any socio-economic progress. “Even the few who managed to join government service got only entry-level jobs such as police constables, drivers, conductors or anganwadi workers,” he said.
B. Chandrasekaran, president of Federation of Piramalai Kallar Associations, alleged that while reservation for DNC was being provided under the Most Backward Class (MBC), the sub-category of DNC within MBC was often ignored in reservation for jobs.
All the representatives appealed to the committee to submit its report at the earliest as the announcement of parliamentary election might force the government to delay the decision on their demand.
Kuravars
While a majority of the communities demanded the change of nomenclature from DNC to DNT, M. Jagannathan, a person representing various kuravacommunities, demanded that they be removed from DNC list and instead included in Scheduled Tribes list. “There are 27 types of kuravar communities in the DNC list. Both the Sattanathan and Ambasankar Commissions recommended that these communities be included in the ST list similar to the ‘Malai Kuravar’ community that is already in the list. However, this has been ignored for long despite formation of committees to explore the possibility,” he said. He, however, added that their community supported the demand for DNT status of the remaining communities.
Responding to the request, Atulya Misra, Principal Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, who heads the committee, highlighted that its scope was limited to discussing the change of nomenclature from DNC to DNT. The committee would organise similar meetings in Dindigul and Theni Collectorates on Tuesday.
MADURAI, JANUARY 22, 2019 00:00 IST
Representatives of De-notified Communities presenting their arguments before the committee constituted to examine the request for change of nomenclature from DNC to De-notified Tribes in Madurai on Monday.G. MoorthyG_Moorthy
Representatives of different De-notified Communities (DNCs) in the State strongly presented their demand for reclassifying them as De-notified Tribes.
Appearing before the committee constituted to examine the request for change of nomenclature from DNCs to DNTs here on Monday, they said the Tamil Nadu government wronged them through an order in 1979 that changed the nomenclature from DNTs to DNCs. The socio-economically backward communities had been stripped of all benefits, including reservation, availed by DNTs elsewhere in the country.
P. Ayyakannu, who previously led protests by a group of Tamil Nadu farmers in Delhi, said that the 68 communities that formed part of the DNC list were ostracised and stigmatised during the British rule through the Criminal Tribes Act and were later brought under DNT status to improve their socio-economic condition through affirmative action. “However, the benefits were taken away in Tamil Nadu alone. We are not asking anything new, but to restore the status that prevailed till 1979,” he said.
P.V. Kathiravan, former MLA of Usilampatti constituency, said that these communities had not witnessed any socio-economic progress. “Even the few who managed to join government service got only entry-level jobs such as police constables, drivers, conductors or anganwadi workers,” he said.
B. Chandrasekaran, president of Federation of Piramalai Kallar Associations, alleged that while reservation for DNC was being provided under the Most Backward Class (MBC), the sub-category of DNC within MBC was often ignored in reservation for jobs.
All the representatives appealed to the committee to submit its report at the earliest as the announcement of parliamentary election might force the government to delay the decision on their demand.
Kuravars
While a majority of the communities demanded the change of nomenclature from DNC to DNT, M. Jagannathan, a person representing various kuravacommunities, demanded that they be removed from DNC list and instead included in Scheduled Tribes list. “There are 27 types of kuravar communities in the DNC list. Both the Sattanathan and Ambasankar Commissions recommended that these communities be included in the ST list similar to the ‘Malai Kuravar’ community that is already in the list. However, this has been ignored for long despite formation of committees to explore the possibility,” he said. He, however, added that their community supported the demand for DNT status of the remaining communities.
Responding to the request, Atulya Misra, Principal Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, who heads the committee, highlighted that its scope was limited to discussing the change of nomenclature from DNC to DNT. The committee would organise similar meetings in Dindigul and Theni Collectorates on Tuesday.
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