Rs 888-crore cash-for-job scam in TN flagged by ED: EPS demands FIR, BJP and PMK for CBI probe

With the Enforcement Directorate (ED) flagging corruption to the tune of Rs 888 in the recent recruitment for 2,538 posts of officers and staff in the Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department (MAWS), and nudging the State Police to register a case so that it could proceed in the matter has given a handle to the Opposition to beat the DMK government with ahead of the 2026 assembly election.

While the principal Opposition AIADMK has called for immediate registration of an FIR against those involved in the massive cash-for-job scam, the BJP and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) have demanded a CBI probe into the matter, considering the gravity of the offence.

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Interestingly, the appointment orders for the successful candidates were handed over by Chief Minister MK Stalin on August 6 at an event. Of the over 1.2 lakh aspirants who had applied for the posts of Assistant Engineers, Town Planning Officers and Sanitary Officers, 2538 were selected. Now, the alleged scam has come to haunt DMK veteran and Trichy strongman KN Nehru, who is the minister for municipal administration and water supply.

In a letter to the Tamil Nadu DGP, the ED, under Sec. 66 (2) of the PMLA, had said that it had stumbled upon the scam earlier this year during a raid on True Value Homes, linked to the minister’s brother, N Ravichandran, in connection with a bank fraud case.

Bribes ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 35 lakh were collected from at least 150 candidates for the posts by netas and those close to them for rigging the examination and selection process in the middle of 2024, the ED said in the communication to the DGP.

The Central Agency has also attached a 232-page dossier with the names of the suspects, linchpins and their modus operandi in the alleged scam. According to the ED, it had collected evidence of the recruitment process being manipulated in favour of the candidates who had greased the palms of the middlemen.

In a hard-hitting statement, AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami demanded swift action and immediate registration of an FIR, saying, “This has all the markings of a job racket. It is a cruel betrayal of Tamil Nadu’s Youth. The DMK has turned government recruitment into a market for bribes. It is corruption everywhere, corruption in everything. If this regime has nothing to hide, let there be a fair investigation.”

BJP state president Nainar Nagendran and PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss have pressed for a CBI probe, stating that any enquiry by the state police would not inspire confidence.