TESMA to be repealed: Barnala

Chennai, May 24 : The DMK government today announced it will repeal The Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act (TESMA), under which 1.75 lakh government employees were dismissed en masse by the previous AIADMK regime for going on strik.

Announcing this in his customary address to the newly constituted 13th Assembly, Governor S S Barnala said the government had fully realised the importance of the government employees' role in delivering government schemes and will continue to safeguard their interests.

''The TESMA, which is against the interests of the government employees, will be repealed,'' he added.

Mr Barnala also announced that immediate steps would be taken to fill up the existing vacancies in various government departments.

He also announced relaxation by five years, the upper age limit for entering government service. This would enable unemployed youth affected by the ban order on recruitment to apply for government jobs.

The goverment would bring in necessary legislation providing reservation for Christian and Muslim religious minorities in all educational institutions and employment opportunities.

Mr Barnala said the government would hold consultations with educationists to ensure that all school students in the state compulsorily take up Tamil as one of the subjects from the ensuing academic year. The birth anniversary of former chief minister K Kamaraj would be celebrated as 'Educational Development Day' on July 15 in all schools. Students would be provided eggs twice a week along with the nutritious meal from the day.

As promised in the DMK manifesto, teachers employed under contract on consolidated pay in government schools would be given time scale pay hereafter.

This would improve the quality of education in the state, he said and added all vacant teaching posts in government schools and colleges would be filled up on regular time payscales.

All government schools would be provided with computers in a phased manner in the next three years, he said.

UNI