Government won’t interfere in TNPSC scam inquiry: EPS

Coimbatore: Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday said his government won’t intervene in the investigation into the TNPSC scam and that they only wanted a fair probe in the case.
Addressing the media at the city airport, he said the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) was an independent body and the state police have been investigating the case. “Police have arrested the people who are involved in the scam. The AIADMK government won’t intervene in the inquiry. We want a fair probe to be conducted,” the chief minister said.
He blamed the media for playing up the issue of forest minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan seeking the help of a tribal boy to remove his slippers while he was in the Nilgiris. “He is 70 years old and he was not able to bend and remove a small stick that was stuck in his slipper. So, he sought the tribal boy’s help. He also explained that the boy was like his grandson. Yet, he has sought apology from the boy and his family. The media overplayed the issue and it hurt us severely. AIADMK ministers or any other party functionary won’t involve in such activities at any situation.”
When asked about the cancellation of Class V and Class VIII public exams, the chief minister said they could be cancelled easily. “If we cancel all examinations, how can we evaluate the ability of the children? It will only help the students spend their days within the state as they cannot go out for job. Exams help evaluate the ability of students. Only if we conduct exams, we can ascertain their ability.” He said the exams were cancelled based on the parents’ request.
Pointing out that the public wasn’t aware of the school dropout rate, Palaniswami said the state government had been taking steps to reduce the same.
Regarding the controversial communal remarks that were made by dairy development minister Rajendra Balaji, Palaniswami said he was not aware about the charges leveled against the former. “He is a devotee and he has expressed his own opinion and not that of the party.”
Rajendra Balaji had in a recent interview said some outfits were orchestrating Islamic terrorism. “If they are functioning like that, definitely Hindu terrorism will also be formed and no one could stop that,” he had said. Seizing the opportunity, DMK chief M K Stalin had mounted a scathing attack on the minister, who he said was speaking against secularism. A few days ago, the DMK had petitioned governor Banwarilal Purohit, seeking to remove Rajendra Balaji from the minister post for his hate speech. The opposition party had also petitioned the director general of police against the minister.