The Tamizh Desiya Periyakkam has decided to stage a series of picketing agitations in front of Golden Rock Railway Workshop here from September 11 to 18 demanding among others 90% employment to candidates of Tamil Nadu during recruitment in Central government offices and undertakings functioning in the State.
The outfit has also demanded that eligibility criteria be changed to allow only candidates from Tamil Nadu to take part in examinations conducted for recruitment in Southern Railway and other Central government organisations functioning in the State.
In a press release issued here on Tuesday, Periyakkam president P. Maniyarasan said the proposed week-long agitation would highlight the demand that only Tamils should be recruited for jobs in Tamil Nadu.
He claimed that more than 90 % of 3,218 candidates recruited in Southern Railway were from north India and other States. Over 400 candidates out of 541 recruited at Golden Rock Railway Workshop in Tiruchi were from north Indian states.
The railway administration was ignoring thousands of candidates of Tamil Nadu who had completed Act Apprentices training in railways. Priority should be accorded to these candidates for employment in Southern Railway.
The Central government was recruiting more than 90% of candidates from north Indian States in BSNL, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, ONGC, IOC, Central Universities,.Income Tax, Postal Department, Airports and Ports functioning in Tamil Nadu besides at JIPMER hospital in Puducherry.
While several States had enacted legislation according priority to sons-of-the-soil in job opportunities, the AIADMK government had brought an amendment in the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission Act making candidates, who could not read or write Tamil, eligible for employment subject to a condition that they should learn Tamil in two years after joining service. The government should also enact a law to ensure that only Tamils were employed for jobs in the State.