The State government has come out with a revised list of Scheduled Castes in the light of the Central law on Devendrakula Velalar coming into force on May 15.
A cluster of seven castes — Devendrakulathan, Kadaiyan (excluding those in the coastal areas of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts), Kalladi, Kudumban, Pallan, Pannadi, and Vathiriyan — has been given the generic title of Devendrakula Velalar, which comes as entry no. 17 in the revised list.
The Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department on Tuesday issued an order and asked district collectors, heads of departments and other authorities looking after the issue of community certificates to go by the latest list.
As for people belonging to Kadaiyan caste in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, they continue to remain in the SC list at entry no. 26.
With the latest revision, five entries in the earlier list have been omitted to avoid repetition.
Called the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Act, it was enacted by Parliament in March and President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to it in April. It came into force on May 15. This was in response to a long-standing demand by sections of the SCs, especially those living in the southern districts of the State.
