The Tamil Nadu government has told the Madras High Court that 89% of the State’s population is already eligible for the 69% reservation provided in the education and public employment.
Therefore, the State cannot be compelled to implement the additional 10% reservation for others under the category of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
The litigant had sought a direction to the State government to implement the 10% EWS quota for admission to all higher educational institutions in the State.
100% door-to-door enumeration of castes and communities in the State was carried out in 1983, following the directions issued by the Supreme Court on October 14, 1982.
Ambasankar Commission (1983) had revealed that the proportion of socially and educationally backward classes in the State, including the most backward classes and de-notified communities, was 68% of the total populace.
The 2011 decennial census also found the population of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in Tami Nadu to be 20% and 1.1%, respectively.
The first Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission, also known as Sattanathan Commission, had submitted its report in 1970.