Tamil Nadu Timeline

LegislationNational and Dravidian movements

First Communal Government Order on reservation

· Chennai

The Justice Party government issued the first Communal Government Order, reserving government posts for different communities.

In 1921 the Justice Party ministry issued a government order (G.O. No. 613) directing that appointments in government service be distributed among different communities. The order met opposition and its implementation was delayed. A fuller Communal G.O. was put into effect in 1927 under the ministry of P. Subbarayan. The communal G.O. is regarded as the beginning of caste-based reservation in the Madras Presidency and became a foundation of later reservation policy in Tamil Nadu.

Related events

  1. 1912

    1. Nov 1912ChennaiPolitics

      Madras Dravidian Association formed

      The Madras United League, founded by C. Natesa Mudaliar in 1912, was renamed the Madras Dravidian Association, an early non-Brahmin political body.

  2. 1916

    1. Dec 1916ChennaiPolitics

      Non-Brahmin Manifesto published

      The new non-Brahmin federation issued a manifesto criticising Brahmin dominance in public services and politics, drawing sharp criticism from The Hindu.

  3. 1917

    1. 20 Sep 1917ChennaiPolitics

      Madras Presidency Association formed

      The Madras Presidency Association was set up by non-Brahmin Congressmen to press for non-Brahmin representation inside the national movement.

  4. 1921

    1. 11 Jul 1921 to 3 Dec 1926ChennaiGovernance

      Raja of Panagal becomes Premier

      Panaganti Ramarayaningar, the Raja of Panagal, succeeded Subbarayalu Reddiar and led two Justice Party ministries until 1926.

  5. 1979

    1. Jul 1979 to 21 Jan 1980ChennaiSocial Reform

      Income ceiling introduced for backward class reservation

      The MGR government introduced an annual income ceiling to exclude better-off families from backward class reservation.

  6. 1980

    1. 21 Jan 1980ChennaiSocial Reform

      Income ceiling withdrawn, backward class quota raised to 50%

      After electoral setbacks, the MGR government withdrew the income ceiling and raised the backward class quota from 31% to 50%.

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