The Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars Reservation Act, 2009 provides the preferential treatment to Arunthathiyars among the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
For the purpose of the law, seven castes - Arunthathiyar, Chakkiliyan, Madari, Madiga, Pagadi, Thoti, and Adi Andhra in the list of 76 SCs notified by the Indian President under Article 341 of the Constitution have been generically called the Arunthathiyars.
It envisaging the provision of 3% reservation for Arunthathiyars within the 18% quota of Scheduled Caste.
In MBBS, the total number of seats went up by about 82% between 2018-19 and 2023-24.
In Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) course, from 2018-19 their figure rose to 3% five years later.
Admission to engineering courses, the strength of SC(A) students increased from 1,193 in 2009-10 to 3,944 in 2023-24.