Daijiworld Media Network - Chennai
Chennai, Aug 26: Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has given his assent to the legislation providing 20 per cent preferential reservation in government employment for candidates educated entirely in Tamil medium.
The law applies to appointments made through direct recruitment and lays down specific educational conditions for candidates seeking preference under the Persons Studied in Tamil Medium (PSTM) category.
Tamil Nadu introduced the 20 per cent quota through legislation in 2010, reserving one-fifth of vacancies filled through direct recruitment for eligible Tamil-medium candidates. Until now, the preference was available to qualified applicants irrespective of whether they were already serving in government employment.
The Madras High Court later ruled that serving government employees could not claim preference under the Tamil-medium category. To remove the ambiguity and regulate eligibility, particularly for those who entered government service after September 7, 2010, the state government introduced an amendment Bill in the Legislative Assembly in January.
With the governor's assent, the amendment has now come into force. The revised provisions will apply prospectively and only to fresh recruitment, and will not affect appointments that have already been made.
Under the amended law, candidates must have studied entirely in Tamil medium from Class I up to the educational qualification prescribed for the post. Merely taking or writing examinations in Tamil will not make an applicant eligible for the preference.
Candidates whose medium of instruction was another language will therefore not qualify, even if they wrote their examinations in Tamil.
The legislation provides certain exceptions linked to the Right to Education Act. Children who did not begin schooling in Class I but were admitted directly to Classes II to VIII according to their age will continue to be eligible, provided they subsequently studied and completed their education through Tamil medium.
Students who received Tamil-medium education in another state and later continued their studies in Tamil Nadu will also be eligible from the class in which they joined, subject to fulfilment of the prescribed conditions.
Applicants seeking the benefit of the quota must obtain certificates confirming their Tamil-medium education from every relevant educational institution they attended up to the qualification prescribed for the post. These certificates will be treated as documentary proof while considering their claims under the preferential quota.
The amendment is aimed at removing the uncertainty arising from the court ruling, ensuring uniform verification of PSTM claims and preserving the 20 per cent preference for candidates who have genuinely completed the required course of study through Tamil medium.