The Dravidian model of governance, championed by the DMK as a boon for the people, has left over 30,000 sanitation workers in rural Tamil Nadu unpaid for over six months. These workers, responsible for cleaning toilets in government schools, are enduring significant hardship as funds from the Rural Development Department have been withheld. With no salaries forthcoming, many school headmasters and teachers are personally funding the sanitation workers while activists demand better wages and urgent intervention by the DMK government.
Some school headmasters and teachers have been personally funding these workers without salaries. For instance, K. Solachi, a 55-year-old worker from Thiyagarajapuram in Kallakurichi district, shared that she has been employed at a village middle school for over a decade. Last academic year, she received her salary for only six out of 12 months, leaving her unpaid for ₹9,000. This year, her dues have accumulated to ₹18,000. Struggling to afford basic needs like food and medical care, Solachi relies on the school’s noon meal for sustenance.
This dire situation affects thousands of workers like Solachi across the state. Activist K. Thirupathi from Kallakurichi highlighted that repeated appeals to the authorities have gone unheeded. He called for an increase in their wages from the current ₹1,000 for primary school workers to at least ₹5,000, citing the inadequacy of their current earnings to sustain a dignified life.
A headmaster from a panchayat union middle school in Coimbatore’s Thondamuthur block revealed that panchayat funds for salaries have been withheld for over 18 months. To support a worker, he has been paying ₹3,000 monthly. Many schools are in similar situations, with teachers or administrators stepping in to cover cleaning costs.
R. Kanagaraj from the Tamil Nadu Primary School Teacher Federation reported that no budget has been allocated for salaries or toilet maintenance this academic year. Even the meagre ₹300 allocated previously for cleaning supplies is unavailable, forcing teachers to shoulder the costs.
A block development officer in Coimbatore confirmed that funding from the Rural Development Department has been halted since March. He noted that providing salaries and maintenance for 671 government schools in the district would require approximately ₹80 lakh annually, a sum currently unavailable due to a shortage of panchayat funds.
Responding to inquiries, P. Ponniah, Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, assured that steps are being taken to release the funds soon.
Even in the past, the Dravidian model DMK government, on 21 October 2024, announced a bonus of up to ₹16,800 for TASMAC employees in the state while ignoring the struggles of cleanliness workers employed on contract through private organizations. This neglect initially emerged in Coimbatore and later spread to the Thoothukudi district, where workers gathered in protest outside the Collectorate building to demand their rightful wages.
(With inputs from TNIE)
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