The Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department has issued summons to 27 district-level officers and project officers to appear before an inquiry committee over allegations of violating norms in appointing cooks at hostels run by the department.
The 27 officers are from 16 districts including Chennai, Trichy, Salem, Dharmapuri, Nilgiris, and Kanniyakumari. The inquiry will take place in Chennai from August 26 to September 6.
The action follows complaints that the officers did not follow recruitment norms and terminated eighty cooks for no faults of theirs.
According to sources, around 600 cooks were recruited across the State in November and December 2021. The department had mandated that candidates should be under 35 years of age and that priority should be given to those who have registered with the district employment office and finally, the candidates should not have cleared Class X.
But the district-level officials allegedly appointed persons who passed Classes X and XII, in an arbitrary manner. Those who were rejected for the jobs raised the issue with the higher officials in Chennai who went into the issue and terminated those who had cleared Class X.
Explaining the violation, the general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Teachers - Wardens Welfare Association G Vivek, said, "As per the GO 53, it is enough for candidates to be able to read and write for the cook appointment. But the top officers in the department themselves changed the education qualification that person should not have passed Class X. We say this is a violation. Several cooks have been terminated on grounds that they are overqualified for the job. Like this, top officers violated age limit norms also."
A cook who passed Class X and was terminated from her job in Tirunelveli district, on condition of anonymity, said, "The department released a newspaper advertisement mentioning that it is enough for candidates to be able to read and write in Tamil. I applied and got the job in November 2020. Ten cooks from Tirunelveli and Tenkasi on May 13, 2022, stated that we are over qualified. A cook challenged this in the Madurai Bench of Madras High court and got an interim order against the termination recently. But the top officers in Tirunelveli district refuse to execute the court order."
Joint Director of Adi Dravidar Welfare Department S Karunakaran refused to comment on this matter.
