Before Election, Probe Agency Flags Another 'Scam' In Tamil Nadu Government

The Enforcement Directorate has red flagged an alleged 'cash for jobs' scam linked to appointments in the Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration and Water Supply department.

The probe agency has urged the state police force to initiate a detailed investigation after uncovering what it said was evidence of large-scale bribery in the recruitment process.

Sources told NDTV the agency sent a detailed dossier – over 200 pages containing names of individuals suspected of accepting bribes and with details of how payments were channelled.

The alleged irregularities pertain to recruitment for over 2,500 posts, including assistant and junior engineers, town planning officers, and sanitary inspectors. Sources said candidates who were appointed may have paid between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 35 lakh each to secure their jobs.

Sources said the ED's case stems from a parallel probe into a Chennai-based real estate group with ties to a current member of Chief Minister MK Stalin's cabinet. The agency believes some of the money generated by that business may have been used to manipulate recruitment results.

The appointments in question were announced in August by the Chief Minister, and the city's prestigious Anna University, which conducted entrance exams, may also be scrutinised.

Responding for the state government, Municipal Administration Secretary D Karthikeyan told NDTV he had yet to receive the ED's letter. He maintained, however, that the recruitment process had been conducted transparently and in line with the rules.

All of this comes months before an Assembly election, in the build-up to which the opposition alliance – the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Bharatiya Janata Party – have been targeting the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam over alleged scams in its administration.

These alleged scams include claims of multiple irregularities in TASMAC operations, including "manipulation" in the tender processes and "unaccounted" cash transactions worth Rs 1,000 crore through distillery companies. TASMAC is Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited, a government-owned company that has a monopoly over the liquor trade in the southern state.

The ruling DMK, however, has rubbished any talk of corruption in TASMAC and has approached the Supreme Court to challenge the federal agency's inquiry on jurisdiction grounds.

Earlier this month the court questioned the ED on this subject.

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"What happens to the federal structure? Are you not taking away the state government's right to investigate?" a bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai asked the central agency, "Whenever you have a doubt ... 'is the state not investigating the offence'... can you go and do it yourself?"