The Tamil Nadu cabinet has decided to establish a Social Justice Commission headed by a retired Madras High Court judge, with a comprehensive statewide survey planned after completion of the Union government’s population census. The commission is expected to be constituted by February or March 2027, according to Electricity and Law Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar.
Nirmal Kumar announced the decision after a cabinet meeting at the Secretariat. He said the commission would frame the rules and guidelines for the survey after it is established. The proposed exercise was identified as one of the key poll promises of the TVK government.
The timing of the survey will follow the completion of the population census, according to the minister’s briefing. The cabinet’s decision places the proposed commission within a wider administrative process involving the collection and assessment of statewide social data before specific survey procedures are finalised.
The cabinet also decided to file a review petition against the Supreme Court order concerning reservation benefits for converted Muslims under the Backward Class (Muslims) category. The Supreme Court had upheld a Madras High Court order that quashed a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order allowing Hindus from backward, most backward and scheduled caste communities to be categorised as Backward Class (Muslims) after conversion to Islam.
The reservation-related decision is connected to the state’s broader debate over how social categories are identified and administered. The proposed commission’s survey, however, will first require the government to establish its rules, guidelines and institutional process after the commission is formally constituted.
The cabinet also discussed the long-running land issue affecting residents and educational institutions on around 600 acres of poromboke land in Thalambur on Chennai’s outskirts. According to Nirmal Kumar, nearly 3,000 residents and 15 educational institutions are affected by pattas that were issued illegally during previous regimes.
The state government is developing a redressal mechanism following a Supreme Court order. The options under consideration include leasing land to educational institutions for a specified period while providing relief to affected families. The cabinet discussion brings the issue back into the state’s active administrative agenda after it had continued for more than two decades.
The meeting also approved eight new industrial investment proposals. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay instructed ministers to ensure zero corruption in their departments and reiterated that neither ministers nor members of his family should engage in corrupt practices. He also told ministers not to interfere in the transfers of government employees and officials.
According to sources cited in the report, district-in-charge ministers were asked to identify public priorities, accelerate welfare delivery and focus on monsoon preparedness. The next formal steps on the Social Justice Commission will be its constitution by February or March 2027, followed by the framing of survey rules and guidelines.
