A Gram Sabha meeting was held at the Moovarasanpattu Primary Panchayat in the Alandur constituency of Chengalpattu district, with DMK Minister of MSME, T.M. Anbarasan, and District Collector Arunraj in attendance. During the meeting, members of the public raised several demands, including a request for the construction of toilets. In response, a visibly irritated Minister T.M. Anbarasan remarked, “I will build the toilets, but will you take responsibility of cleaning it?” His comment took the attendees by surprise and caused an immediate stir among those present.
T.M. Anbarasan, seemingly dismissing the community’s sanitation concerns, remarked, “We have been building it everywhere, it will remain usable for four to six months before becoming filthy without maintenance. Listen to me, I say this from experience, having constructed many toilets in various places. It’s not a big deal to build them, I’m ready to fund the construction through the constituency development fund. However, after two or three months, it cannot be maintained, they become dirty due to neglect. Only the place just becomes wasted rather than maintaining it.”
The DMK minister’s casual dismissal of the issue and his indifferent statement have sparked widespread condemnation from various quarters. BJP State Secretary SG Suryah strongly criticized the remarks on social media.
In a statement on his official X account, SG Suryah said, “A Gram Sabha meeting was held in the Moovarasampattu Primary Panchayat of Chengalpattu District. The meeting started at 11 am and Minister @thamoanbarasan arrived almost an hour and a half late at 12:30 pm! Not only this, during the meeting, when a member of the public asked the Minister to build a public toilet, he asked, “Will you clean it?” in a posture of authority and arrogance, which is condemnable. Should the public, who are requesting toilets clean it? Or is the government administration providing the toilets should arrange this? Is this how a minister would behave towards the public who are request demands? Is this character? Is this honor? This is what happens when stone-hearted people who lack even the slightest humanity are in power?”
செங்கல்பட்டு மாவட்டம், மூவரசம்பட்டு முதல்நிலை ஊராட்சியில் கிராம சபை கூட்டம் நடந்துள்ளது. கூட்டம் 11 மணிக்கு துவங்க 12:30 மணிக்கு கிட்டத்தட்ட ஒன்றரை மணிநேரம் தாமதமாக வந்துள்ளார் அமைச்சர் திரு.@thamoanbarasan !
இதுமட்டுமில்லாமல் கூட்டத்தின்போது பொது மக்களில் ஒருவர்… pic.twitter.com/qj5MDI1tju
— Dr.SG Suryah (@SuryahSG) November 25, 2024
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