Days after a District Child Protection Officer in Dharmapuri raised allegations of corruption and verbal abuse against Tamil Nadu Minister of Social Welfare Dr V Saroja, the Minister has called the allegations baseless and false.
In a press release, the Minister said, “On May 7, 2017, Meenakshi came to meet me in the office and requested me to make her permanent and give her a posting in Chennai. I told her that I cannot process her request and she also knows that there is no government rule in which a temporary employee can be made permanent. She directly came to meet me instead of meeting other officials this shows that this was all made up by her to make fake allegations against me. There are more people behind this.”
The release said that Meenakshi was appointed on a temporary basis on September 9, 2016 as the District Child Protection Officer in Dharmapuri. It also stated that a probation officer had alleged in March that Meenakshi had made fake receipts for funds allocated under different schemes.
The probation officer had informed the Dharmapuri Collector and other officials from the social welfare department, the release stated. “An investigation was ordered against Meenakshi and she was asked to be present before the officials but she did not come and claimed that she was admitted in a hospital in Chennai. She has been called in for interrogation on June 8, 2017.”
Dismissing the allegations as complete false, the Minister said that Meenakshi was making allegations against her in order to deflect attention away from herself. “To deflect the investigation into allegations that she misused government funds, and to defame me and my spotless record, she has deliberately made such an allegation against me," the release said.
On May 10, 2017, Meenakshi had filed a complaint of corruption against the Minister. Speaking to The News Minute earlier, Meenakshi had said, “The Minister was angry that I got the posting without having to pay any money. She said my job is worth Rs 30 lakhs in the market now, and said I should either pay the money or quit."
She had added that she had asked for a transfer to Chennai because her child was alone with relatives. “The Minister said I must first pay for the post I got before asking for a transfer. I was told I didn't understand the value of money because I didn't pay for my government job," she had alleged.