Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nainar Nagenthran on Saturday, 11 July launched a sharp political offensive against Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, accusing the state government of leaving thousands of government posts unfilled while making selective appointments for a narrow group of beneficiaries. The attack came through a strongly worded statement issued in Chennai, drawing attention to what Nagenthran described as a systemic failure to serve lakhs of educated, unemployed youth across Tamil Nadu.

Scale of Alleged Vacancies

Nagenthran cited a string of specific figures to back his allegations. He claimed that of 181 government Arts and Science Colleges in Tamil Nadu, nearly 125 were operating without principals. He further alleged that approximately 9,000 Assistant Professor posts remained vacant across these institutions.

The BJP leader also alleged that more than half the professor posts in major universities — including the University of Madras, Madurai Kamaraj University, and Bharathidasan University — had not been filled. He added that over 30,000 intermediate teacher posts and thousands of other school-level teaching positions in government institutions were lying vacant.

Healthcare, Utilities and Other Sectors

Beyond education, Nagenthran alleged that more than 7,000 government nurses were awaiting permanent appointments. He also pointed to unfilled positions within the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, where aspirants including Gangmen had reportedly been seeking merit-based recruitment for an extended period.

Sanitation workers, doctors, anganwadi employees, and transport workers were also cited as groups demanding regular government appointments, according to Nagenthran's statement.

TNPSC and Recruitment Process Under Fire

Nagenthran directed specific criticism at the state's recruitment process, noting that only 26 vacancies had been announced for this year's Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) Group-I examination — a figure he described as grossly inadequate given the scale of unfilled posts.

He also questioned why the government had not released a department-wise recruitment calendar, even as thousands of candidates had already cleared competitive examinations such as the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) and Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) examinations and were awaiting appointments.

The Karur Incident Reference

The BJP leader also referred to deaths that occurred during Vijay's election campaign meeting in Karur the previous year, noting that the government had subsequently announced government jobs for the affected families after taking office. While acknowledging the move as a humanitarian gesture, Nagenthran questioned whether such targeted appointments could substitute for broad-based, large-scale recruitment across the state.

'Instead of addressing the employment needs of lakhs of deserving young people who have worked hard to qualify for government jobs, the government appears to be focusing only on a handful of appointments,' he said.

BJP's Demand

Nagenthran called upon Chief Minister Vijay to expedite recruitment across all departments and ensure that eligible candidates waiting for government employment received their appointments without further delay. The Tamil Nadu government had not issued an official response to the allegations at the time of reporting. With unemployment a persistent electoral flashpoint in the state, the BJP's push on this issue signals an intensified opposition strategy ahead of future polls.