The demand of merging castes such as Devendrakulathar,
Pallar, Pannadi and Vathiriyar in the
Scheduled Castes list and the castes such as Kaladi and Moopar in the
Other Backward Class list in the state of
Tamil Nadu into an umbrella term called "Devendrakula Velalar" and delisting them to
Other Backward Class arose. Before the
2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, the
Government of Tamil Nadu under
M. Karunanidhi constituted a one-man commission under the chairmanship of Justice Jannarthanam to study and submit a report on the demand. However post elections, with the change in power in the state, the demand did not proceed further. But with the increasing agitations and protests from the people and parties like
Puthiya Tamilagam,
Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam and
Anaithinthiya Thamizhaga Munnetra Kazhagam and various caste organisations the demand gained pace. The demand was supported by
Pattali Makkal Katchi,
Bharatiya Janata Party and
Indian National Congress. Before the
2019 Indian general election, the
Government of Tamil Nadu under
Edappadi K. Palaniswami constituted a commission under the chairmanship of Hansraj Varma IAS to study and report on the issue. The demand even gained pace with the community members boycotting the
Nanguneri bypoll in October 2021 where the community had a significant population. The Hansraj Varma commission submitted the report to the
Government of Tamil Nadu with their report justifying the proposal. Then the
Parliament of India passed a bill for the merger of the seven sub castes in 2021 with the
President of India giving it an assent, making it a law in
India. However the opposition parties argued that the decision was made only in favour of attracting the sizeable vote bank of the community in
Tenkasi,
Tirunelveli,
Thoothukudi,
Ramanathapuram,
Virudhunagar,
Thiruvarur,
Tiruchirapalli,
Karur,
Dindigul,
Nagapattinam,
Thanjavur,
Madurai and
Sivagangai districts. In June 2021, the
Government of Tamil Nadu under
M. K. Stalin released a G.O to release community certificates under the new nomenclature listed in no.17 of Tamil Nadu
Scheduled Caste list with the deletion of entries to
Pallar, Kudumbar, Vathiriyar, Kalladi, Kadaiyar and Pannadi. The change was notified in the Indian Union gazette of castes by the
Government of India. However the demand of delisting them to
Other Backward Class is not met yet. For the
2024 Indian general election,
Pattali Makkal Katchi which was a part of
National Democratic Alliance declared in its manifesto for the polls that the community would be delisted from
Scheduled Castes to
Other Backward Class in the Union list. == Temple festivals ==