TWAD Board officials, contractors accused of looting Rs 90 crore annually in wages across Tamil Nadu

New Indian Express

3 days ago

TENKASI/TIRUNELVELI: In a case of systematic corruption that's been going on for years, nearly Rs 90 crore is allegedly being looted every year by officials and contractors of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board through an organised racket of underpayment to contract staff across the state.
According to a complaint filed last month by the Tirunelveli-Tenkasi Bharathiya TWAD Board Contract Labourers Union to the MD of the Board, Kiran Gurrala, while the minimum wage fixed for nearly 12,000 labourers working in Combined Water Supply Schemes (CWSSs) across TN is Rs 15,401, they are actually being paid only between Rs 7,500 and Rs 9,800 per month, a shortfall of nearly 40% to 50% of the actual salary.
The rest of the amount, Rs 7.42 crore every month from the funds allotted for the workers' salary, is being allegedly pocketed by officials and contractors.
We've been fighting for last 20 years for our rightful wage, say contract workers
Multiple letters and communications sent to the TWAD Board over the years by stakeholder departments such as labour, Provident Fund, and CM's office have acknowledged the rot in the system but all the corrective actions proposed have been successfully stonewalled by the racketeers, workers alleged.
According to the information shared by former TWAD Board MD V Dakshinamoorthy with the labourers in 2022, as many as 11,597 labourers — mostly electricians, pump operators and maintenance assistants — have been working in CWSSs across Tamil Nadu and they are entitled to be paid at least Rs 15,401 every month.
In the petition submitted to MD Gurrala, the union said, 'Instead of crediting the full salary to our bank accounts, the illegally-truncated wage is paid in cash to us without any receipt. While a higher salary is shown to have been paid to us in the official records with the connivance of Executive Engineers (EEs) in each district, Rs 7.42 crore is being swindled every month from our wages.' The petitioners also alleged that 'in every three-year contract cycle, about Rs 267 crore of our money is being siphoned off'.