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Palaniswami seeks release of pending salaries, job security for Vazhndhu Kattuvom staff
Palaniswami seeks release of pending salaries, job security for Vazhndhu Kattuvom staff
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Chennai, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday urged the state government to release two months' pending salaries of contract staff under the Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project, or Vazhndhu Kattuvom scheme, and ensure their job security.
In a statement, Palaniswami urged the state government to address the grievances of more than 4,400 employees working under the project, disburse their salaries pending for the past two months and ensure their job security.
Palaniswami claimed the scheme was initially launched in 2005 as the Rural Transformation Project under former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and was renamed the Vazhndhu Kattuvom project by the DMK government in 2021.
The scheme, assisted by the World Bank, seeks to promote rural entrepreneurship, financial inclusion and sustainable livelihoods across Tamil Nadu.
The workforce comprises more than 500 supervisory officers and around 3,900 field staff working at the state, district and block levels across Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami said, adding that all supervisors hold university degrees and nearly 90 per cent of them have postgraduate qualifications.
"These contract employees, who have served on consolidated pay for periods ranging from 10 to 18 years, play a crucial role in rural development," he said.
Their duties include organising rural farmers and forming Farmer Producer Organisations , providing free training and initial seed capital grants, and assisting persons with disabilities and vulnerable sections by issuing identity cards and providing special assistance, he said.
The employees are involved in census enumeration, building grassroots institutions at the community level, establishing e-Seva centres, promoting rural entrepreneurship through micro-credit schemes and implementing women empowerment projects, Palaniswami said.
He said the workers had achieved a micro-credit repayment rate of more than 95 per cent and directly benefited more than 6.5 lakh people across rural Tamil Nadu. He also highlighted their field-level work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Palaniswami said that following the completion of Phase 1, comprising Parts 1.0 and 2.0, the government issued an order on February 13, 2026, announcing its expansion into Phase 2, or Part 3.0.
"Despite these provisions, workers have not received salaries for the past two months, and staff at the state level were relieved from service with effect from September 23, 2026," the former CM alleged.
Palaniswami said most of the workers, having served the schemes for 10 to 18 years, had crossed the upper age limits applicable to recruitment to many government posts and were now facing severe livelihood difficulties.
He urged the government to consider their plight and either retain them under Vazhndhu Kattuvom 3.0 without interruption or integrate them into "Magalir Thittam" , besides immediately releasing their pending salaries for two months.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
