TN, which now adopts a 69 per cent reservation policy, has seen it all: government orders, litigation, committees, debates, protests, experimentation with creamy layer based on economic status — over the past 152 years, ever since the then British government issued a standing order urging collectors to divide subordinate appointments among the principal castes.

It was not the Britishers alone who felt the need for reservation in jobs. In Mysore, the king issued a similar directive in 1894 and then followed it up in 1921 by issuing an order after appointing a committee under Justice Leslie Miller in 1918 to study the issue. The then diwan, Vishweswaraya, resigned his job in protest. Madras Presidency paved the way for a reservation policy through a 1921 order clearly listing out job quota — 44 per cent for non-Brahmins, 16 per cent for Brahmins, 16 per cent for Muslims, 16 per cent for Anglo-Indians/ Christians and eight per cent for Scheduled Castes. The government order remained only on paper till 1927, when Muthiah Mudaliar, a minister in the next government headed by Subarayan, issued fresh orders, which came to be known as the ‘Communal GO’, to ensure job reservation in the registry department.

The Communal GO subsequently underwent changes — including the incorporation of the term “Backward Hindu” — and quotas were provided for jobs and admission to colleges till 1950 when the GO was struck down by a full bench of the Madras High Court on the ground that it went against Article 29(2) of the Constitution. The verdict was given on two cases, one filed by Shanbagam Duraiswamy and the other by C.R. Srinivasan.

The striking down of the Communal GO led to widespread agitation, which impelled the Centre to enact the first constitutional amendment. A fourth clause was added to Article 15 (Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth). It now read: “Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.” Reservation then resumed in TN, helping a new set of backward class people forge ahead. In 1957, after the reorganisation of states, TN’s reservation formula was: SC 16 per cent, BC 25 per cent and OC, 59 per cent. Later the DMK government raised the quota for BCs to 31 per cent.

After M.G. Ramachandran became CM in 1979, an annual income of Rs 9,000 was fixed as ceiling to avail oneself of BC status—a sort of economic criterion. Not only did the order evoke protests but also led to the rout of MGR’s AIADMK in the Lok Sabha elections in 1980. MGR withdrew the income ceiling and also raised the quota for BCs to 50 per cent, thus taking the total percentage of reservation to 68. In 1988, when the DMK was in power, it was raised it to 69 per cent with 1 per cent added for STs. The BC quota of 50 per cent was also split into two — 30 per cent for BCs and 20 per cent for denotified tribes and MBCs, a new group carved out of the BCs following the agitation organised by the Vanniyar Sangam, led by Dr S. Ramadoss.

Today TN provides 69 per cent quotas in jobs and admission for all courses, including medical and engineering colleges. But a cursory look at the cut-off marks for MBBS admission will tell whether merit takes any beating due to reservation. In 2005, the cut-off in open competition was 294.83 marks while for BCs it was 294.59 (the difference was a mere 0.24 marks out of 300 or 0.08 per cent). For MBCs, the cut off was 292.50. Over and above that, BC, MBC and SC students cornered 374 of the 433 seats in the open category.

Despite so many BCs becoming doctors over the years, the state’s health care delivery system has won accolades from economists and social scientists, including Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. The reservation policy is said to have enabled more people from the backward classes and scheduled castes to become doctors and go to their villages and small towns for practice.

Unlike the medicos who went on strike as they were gripped by the fear of the unknown, people in TN have accepted reservation since the state has seen remarkable upward mobility of the backward classes and scheduled castes. It has also facilitated the intermingling of different castes. Most of the caste groups here enjoy the BC or MBC facility, where the socio-political dynamics is such that reservation is not a dirty word in the state. Even the Brahmin association is demanding quota for its members.