Chennai, 07 March (H.S.):The opposition AIADMK has announced a State-level protest in Chennai on March 13, accusing the ruling DMK government of failing to address the concerns of employees working in Tamil Nadu’s State-run transport corporations.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami said the demonstration will be organised by the party’s labour wing, Anna Thozhirsanga Peravai, to press the government to fulfil long-pending demands of transport workers.

The protest is scheduled to take place in front of Pallavan Illam, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) in Chennai. Senior AIADMK leader and former Minister D. Jayakumar will lead the agitation.

Announcing the protest on Saturday, Palaniswami said the party had received repeated complaints from transport corporation employees who alleged that their demands had remained unresolved for a long time.

In a statement, Palaniswami alleged that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government had failed to address several long-pending demands raised by transport corporation workers. Among the key demands are the implementation of the wage revision agreement and the provision of surrender leave benefits for employees.

He said workers had been repeatedly seeking these benefits, but the government had not taken adequate steps to resolve their grievances. Palaniswami accused the ruling party of ignoring the concerns of thousands of transport workers who play a vital role in maintaining public transport services across the State.

The AIADMK leader also recalled that during the administrations led by former Chief Ministers M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa, as well as during his own tenure as Chief Minister, the demands of transport workers and other sections of the working class were given due consideration. According to him, several welfare measures and benefits were implemented during those periods to support government employees and labourers.

Palaniswami further alleged that the DMK had made numerous promises to workers and government employees during the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, despite being aware that many of those commitments would be difficult to fulfil.

He claimed that after coming to power, the government had failed to honour several of those assurances, which had led to dissatisfaction among employees in the transport sector.

The planned protest, he said, is aimed at drawing attention to these issues and urging the government to take immediate steps to address the demands of transport corporation workers.

AIADMK leaders added that transport employees and party functionaries from various districts are expected to participate in the agitation, which they said would send a strong message to the government to resolve the workers’ grievances at the earliest.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman