Introduce 'permit' for people entering Tamil Nadu: DMK ally

Tamizhaga Vazhurimai Katchi (TVK), an ally of the ruling DMK, has triggered a row by demanding the introduction of a “permit” system for people from other states entering Tamil Nadu to ensure that they don’t “snatch jobs meant for native Tamils.”

T Velmurugan, MLA from Panruti constituency who won on the DMK’s Rising Sun symbol, has alleged that private and Central government offices that function in Tamil Nadu “boycott Tamils” as part of “their design” by recruiting 90 per cent of their staff from outside the state.

“The wave of migration is increasing each passing day. We are witnessing a situation where outsiders dominate every sphere of life in Tamil Nadu side-lining the native people. This fails the very purpose on which states were formed on linguistic basis,” Velmurugan said in a statement.

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Velmurugan shot into the political limelight after his supporters ransacked a toll plaza managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in 2018 protesting the delay in the formation of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and when his party cadre let out huge black balloons protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Chennai.

In the statement, Velmurugan said that if no steps are taken to curb the migration of labourers into Tamil Nadu, native people will become a “minority” and lose their “political dominance.” He also referred to incidents of “non-native” Bengali speakers defacing name boards in Assamese in Assam’s Barak Valley.

“To curb the increasing trend of people from other states entering Tamil Nadu, the state government should introduce a permit system for those belonging to other states entering the state,” Velmurugan said.

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Though there was no reaction from the DMK, the statement triggered a row on Tamil Twitter with many opposing the “regressive” and “protectionist” move. They sought to know what would happen if other states start doing the same.

“This kind of protectionism will help nobody. Our businesses will be forced to handle more paperwork to hire Indians. Let us also remember Tamils are employed all over India in white-collar & blue-collar jobs. I am sure our CM is wise enough to ignore such calls,” Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) spokesperson Lakshmi Ramachandran tweeted.

In the statement, Velmurugan said if people from other states continue to migrate to Tamil Nadu, the regional parties would be pushed to the second position. “North Indians will only vote for parties like the BJP,” he said.

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DMK had in its election manifesto promised to bring legislation to ensure that 75 per cent of jobs in Tamil Nadu are reserved for Tamils. Chief Minister M K Stalin had then justified the move saying Tamil Nadu youth are losing jobs meant for them.

“Youth from Tamil Nadu are being ignored in jobs in Central government offices, public sector undertakings (PSUs), banks, and Railways, as people from north India, are preferred for these positions. The BJP has been accommodating north Indian youngsters in jobs in Tamil Nadu only to impose Hindi on the state. Tamil youngsters do not get jobs that are due to them,” Stalin told DH in an interview in March 2021.

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