Palaniswami assails DMK govt. for gathering ‘details of caste’ of women passengers

AIADMK's Palaniswami criticizes DMK govt for trying to ascertain caste of women passengers on buses. He questions govt's lack of consultation & consequences of such action. He also criticizes govt for filing case against former DGP Natraj & urges govt to withdraw case. He appoints IT wing office bearers in 6 regions.

AIADMK’s general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday assailed the DMK government for reportedly trying to ascertain the details of caste of women passengers on buses run by the State Transport Corporations.

“Nowhere else in the world, transport organisations gather such details from passengers travelling on buses, trains, ships and aircraft. Already, caste-related untoward incidents have occurred in some districts which the DMK government has not been able to control,” he said in a statement, referring to the purported survey of finding out the name, age, contact number and caste of every woman passenger.

Under such circumstances, if the process of gathering information was extended to the rest of the State from the existing set of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts, it was not known whether the government had pondered over consequences. “Before embarking on this exercise on such a sensitive matter, did the regime consult senior Ministers or experienced government officers?” Mr Palaniswami asked, urging the government to end immediately the process of collecting information from women passengers.

In another message, he criticised the government for filing a case against former Director General of Police and former legislator of Mylapore, R. Natraj, on charges of spreading false allegations and misinformation against Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and the State government on social media and online messaging platforms. “This has shown the DMK government’s dictatorial approach and intolerance,” he said, urging the government to withdraw the case against the former DGP and a private television channel.

Mr. Palaniswami has also named office-bearers for the party’s information technology wing in six regions — Vellore, Villupuram, Salem, Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Madurai.