Probe sought into ‘irregularities’ in appointments of nutritional cooking assistants in Salem panchayat union

SALEM: Ambedkar Makkal Iyakkam state president A Annadurai on Wednesday submitted a petition to the Salem district administration demanding that a commission headed by a retired high court judge be constituted to probe “irregularities and corruption” in the appointments of nutritional cooking assistants in govt and govt-aided schools in the Salem panchayat union. He demanded action against officials involved in corruption in the appointments. He sought appointment of qualified candidates after cancelling the services of those who had been “illegally appointed.”

The appointments were made for the MGR Nutrition Scheme run by Tamil Nadu govt’s department of social welfare and nutrition schemes. A notification was issued in April last year to fill vacant posts of nutritional cooking assistants in the Salem panchayat union.

The petitioner stated that as per the GO issued for the recruitment, Class X pass should be the minimum qualification of the candidates. The petitioner alleged that candidates who had failed in Class X exams had also been appointed.

He alleged that interviews had been conducted without properly examining ethnic background and distance, as prescribed in the GO. Many applicants had changed their location on their Aadhaar card to within three kilometres and were selected. The petitioner demanded action against those who joined the nutrition programme by paying bribes of several lakhs of rupees.