Imayam vice chief of TN SC/ST panel; four vacant posts too filled

CHENNAI: Sahitya Akademi Award winner and DMK cardholding member Imayam has been appointed as vice-chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The government has also appointed four other members to fill posts lying vacant from January.

The Department of Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare issued an order appointing V Annamalai alias Imayam, who won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2020 for his novel Sellatha Panam as the vice chairperson. In addition, the department appointed Selvakumar from Coimbatore district, Prof

S Anandaraja from Thanjavur district, M Pondass from The Nilgiris, and P Ezhanchezhian from Tirunelveli are members of the commission.

Writer Imayam is the brother of Labour Minister CV Ganesan and is a Dravidian ideologue.

The Commission is headed by retired Madras High Court Judge S Tamilvanan, who serves as its Chairperson.

Since the end of the tenure of former Vice-Chairperson Punitha Pandiyan and four other members on January 2, the Commission had been functioning with only the Chairperson and a single member, J Rekha Priyadharshini.

The State government constituted the Commission under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for the SC/ST Act, 2021, and appointed a retired Madras High Court judge as Chairperson, alongside six other members, including a vice-chairperson, for a tenure of three years.

As a statutory body, the Commission, as per the Act, can inquire suo motu or hear petitions–either from a victim or their representative. It looks into violations of rights enshrined under the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as well as negligence by public servants in preventing such violations. It is also empowered to recommend disciplinary action against government servants if the Commission finds merit in doing so.

The Commission received over 5,000 petitions to date and 4,000 cases were closed.