Chennai (Tamil Nadu), February 13 Senior AIADMK leaders on Friday accused the ruling DMK of "destroying the livelihoods" of rural poor by providing work only for 20 to 40 days under the rural employment guarantee scheme.
The AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) staged statewide demonstrations to condemn the DMK government's handling of the rural employment guarantee scheme, which has recently been restructured by the Centre to provide 125 days of work.
"They promised to increase the workdays to 150, but what happened to those promises? The scheme has not even been properly extended to town panchayats as promised. In reality, workers are only getting 20 to 30 days of work. This protest is to expose the Stalin government," former minister Dindigul Srinivasan told reporters.
Srinivasan was leading the protest in Dindigul.
Similarly, addressing a gathering at Thirumangalam in Madurai, former minister R B Udhayakumar said, "This is a protest to expose the incompetent Stalin government. They are suppressing the livelihoods of the poor.
"If you have the courage, you stand in Thirumangalam yourself; only the AIADMK will win here. Whether it is the influence of MGR, Amma, or Edappadi Palaniswami, the people's support is with the 'Two Leaves' symbol."
The AIADMK leaders claimed that while the Centre's new legislation – Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 – guarantees 125 days of work, the DMK has failed to provide even the minimum existing requirement in many districts.
Speaking to reporters in Namakkal, former minister P Thangamani reiterated that rural workers were being provided only a fraction of the promised work days.
"The DMK has reduced the 100-day work scheme to just 20, 30, or 40 days and is falsely blaming the Central government to reduce the work opportunities for women. Fearing our protest today, they hurriedly started a campaign on February 12 at union offices. If Edappadi Palaniswami returns to power, we will increase this to 150 days," Thangamani stated.
