Urging the Tamil Nadu government to initiate a caste-wise survey in the State at the earliest, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday said Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has no justification to delay the survey any further as it would only contribute to a situation of social injustice.
Addressing a seminar organised by the PMK in Chidambaram to highlight the need for a caste survey, Dr. Ramadoss said the PMK had been demanding a caste-wise survey for scientific data.
“We don’t have any political gains out of this demand. This is not a caste issue but one for social justice since the survey is necessary to get a realistic picture of the socio-economic development of all communities,” he said.
Dr. Ramadoss expressed surprise as to why the State government was dragging its feet in conducting the survey when political parties rewarded MLAs with Minister posts based on their caste. The DMK had been making tall claims that Tamil Nadu was the land of social justice. The reputation of the great leaders like Periyar and former Chief Ministers C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi would suffer a setback if the government did not take up the survey, he said.