The AIADMK government on Tuesday sacked over 12,000 ‘Makkal Nala Paniyalargal' (Staff for People's Welfare) appointed by the previous DMK regime to oversee development activities in villages and supervise work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
In an order passed by the Rural Development department, the government said the Commissioner of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and District Collectors were “directed to ensure that all the posts of Makkal Nala Paniyalargal are disbanded immediately.”
The order said it was found that there was enough staff at the level of panchayat unions and village panchayats to look after the work presently being handled by these workers.
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Similar orders were passed by the AIADMK regime in 1991 and 2001 to undo the appointment of these workers made earlier by the DMK government.
In the past, the government had appointed two workers – a man and a woman – for each village to look after development work, adult education programmes and to safeguard village assets. Subsequently, it was decided to have only one worker per panchayat. There are a little over 12,500 village panchayats in the State. They are appointed for two-year tenures at a time. The government was paying them a monthly honorarium of Rs. 5,000.