Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai has accused Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief Selvaperunthagai of being involved in a strategic scam linked to the sanitation workers’ entrepreneurship scheme in the state. He also raised concerns about whether the ruling DMK is complicit in the alleged scam.
The Tamil Nadu government introduced this initiative following the BJP led Central Governments initiative to enhance the living standards of sanitation workers. As part of the scheme, arrangements were made last year to provide modern sewage vehicles to sanitation workers, enabling them to become entrepreneurs.
Raising concerns over the transparency of the scheme, the Tamil Nadu BJP, through its official X account, called for clarity on the alleged irregularities. BJP state president Annamalai accused TNCC chief Selvaperunthagai of orchestrating a large-scale scam under the pretense of transforming sanitation workers into entrepreneurs. This has also sparked questions about whether the DMK government is complicit in the matter.
The DMK government had announced a scheme aimed at empowering sanitation workers by turning them into entrepreneurs, awarding contracts worth ₹524 crore over a period of seven years through the Chennai Water Supply Board and the Department of Municipal Administration. Following this, 54 beneficiaries secured loans from the Kanchipuram Central Cooperative Bank and 33 from the Chennai Central Cooperative Bank to purchase modern sewage collection vehicles.
Notably, between 12 August 2024 and 19 August 2024, the Kanchipuram Central Cooperative Bank disbursed loans of ₹65 lakh each to 54 individuals within just a week. Shockingly, on the very day their new bank accounts were opened and cheque books issued, ₹65 lakh was deposited into each account, and the beneficiaries were made to sign two cheques before being sent away. Seven months have passed since the loan disbursement, yet no repayments have been made. Furthermore, no financial transactions have occurred in these accounts since the loans were issued. This raises the critical question, On what basis did cooperative banks approve ₹65 lakh loans for multiple individuals without any collateral?
Doubts also arise regarding whether the loan recipients are actually sanitation workers. Had these loans been sanctioned under the Central Government’s NSFDC or NAMASTE schemes, a thorough verification process would have been conducted to ensure they were legitimate beneficiaries. It appears that cooperative banks were strategically used to bypass these checks.
Adding to the controversy, an agreement was signed in 2023 between Chennai-based Gengreen Logistics & Management Pvt Ltd and the loan recipients on 7 June 2023. As per this agreement, instead of sanitation workers directly handling the ₹524 crore sewage disposal contracts under the Tamil Nadu government, Gengreen Logistics took over the operations. A major red flag is that one of the company’s directors, Veeramani Radhakrishnan, is the nephew of TNCC chief Selvaperuthagai. Additionally, the company’s registered office address is the same as that of Selvaperuthagai’s, raising further suspicions of a conflict of interest.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai, through his official X account, said, “Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief Selvaperunthagai has orchestrated a huge scam under the guise of transforming sanitation workers into entrepreneurs. This raises the question of whether the DMK government is also involved. The DMK government had announced plans to empower sanitation workers as entrepreneurs and awarded them contracts worth ₹524 crore over the next seven years to carry out government projects through the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the Department of Municipal Administration. Following this, 54 beneficiaries received loans from the Kanchipuram Central Cooperative Bank and 33 from the Chennai Central Cooperative Bank to purchase modern sewage collection vehicles. Notably, between 12 August 2024, and 19 August 2024, loans worth of ₹65 lakh were granted to 54 individuals within a single week by the Kanchipuram Central Cooperative Bank. On the very day new bank accounts were opened and cheque books issued, ₹65 lakh was deposited into each account, and the beneficiaries were sent away after getting signatures on two cheques. It has now been seven months since the loan disbursement, yet not a single rupee has been repaid. Furthermore, no financial transactions have taken place in these accounts since the loan was issued. On what basis did the cooperative banks approve ₹65 lakh loans for so many individuals without any collateral?”
Adding further, Annamalai said “There is uncertainty about whether the loan recipients are actually sanitation workers. If the loans had been granted through the central government’s NSFDC or NAMASTE schemes, they would have verified whether they were genuine beneficiaries. It appears that, to bypass this, they have taken loans from cooperative banks. An agreement was signed in 2023 between Gengreen Logistics & Management Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based company, and the beneficiaries who received bank loans on 7 June 2023. As per this agreement, instead of the sanitation workers carrying out the sewage disposal contracts worth ₹524 crore under the Tamil Nadu government, Gengreen Logistics would take over the work. One of the company’s directors, Veeramani Radhakrishnan, is the nephew of Selvaperuthagai. The company’s registered office address is the same office address as that of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief Selvaperuthagai. Did the DMK government truly not know that a scheme meant for the rehabilitation and empowerment of sanitation workers was being misused to purchase vehicles for a proxy company linked to Selvaperuthagai? How can accept that a program intended to uplift the poor and needy has been diverted for their personal gain by hitting on the stomachs of poor and the needy?”
தூய்மைப் பணியாளர்களைத் தொழில் முனைவோர் ஆக்குகிறோம் என்ற பெயரில், ஒரு மாபெரும் ஊழலை அரங்கேற்றியிருக்கிறார் தமிழக காங்கிரஸ் கட்சியின் தலைவர் திரு. செல்வப் பெருந்தகை. இதற்கு திமுக அரசும் உடந்தையா என்ற கேள்வி எழுந்திருக்கிறது.
தூய்மைப் பணியாளர்களைத் தொழில்முனைவோர்களாக மாற்றுவதாக… pic.twitter.com/JDtewTPq6n
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) March 28, 2025
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