Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) MP S.Venkatesan on Friday led a sit- in protest at the regional office of State Bank of India here demanding its examination for recruitment of clerks be postponed.
VCK chief and MP Thol Thirumavalavan, DMK Chennai South MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian and Congress Krishnagiri MP Dr A Chellakumar joined Venkatesan who sat inside the SBI’s head office seeking to postpone the junior associate recruitment.
Mr. Venkatesan said he has already written to the bank management to postpone the examination which is scheduled to be held on the day of Pongal on Sunday. Many Tamils will be not able to attend the examination on the day and to get employment in the SBI.
He along with CPM district secretaries L Sundararajan and G Selva resorted to a sit-in protest inside the chief general manager’s office. “The bank officials are still citing technical and administrative reasons for changing the exam dates. We will not move out until the exam dates are changed considering the Pongal festival in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,” Venkatesan told DT Next over the phone on Friday night.
தமிழர் திருநாளன்று நடைபெற உள்ள @TheOfficialSBI கிளார்க் தேர்வுத் தேதிகளை மாற்றக்கோரி, சென்னை #SBI தலைமை அலுவலகத்தில் நடைபெற்ற உள்ளிருப்பு போராட்டத்தை தற்காலிகமாக முடித்துக்கொண்டு செய்தியாளர்களை சந்தித்த போது.@arivalayam @thirumaofficial @SuVe4Madurai@DrAChellaKumar pic.twitter.com/0821peAHB8
— தமிழச்சி (@ThamizhachiTh) January 13, 2023
He said that as soon as he came to know about the exam he wrote to the SBI and also made over 20 phone calls seeking to change the exam dates. “How Kerala and Bengal will not allow holding of the exams on Onam and Durga Puja festival! Likewise, we will never allow an exam to be held at a Tamil festival,” he said.
VCK chief Thirumavalavan sought the intervention of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to postpone the exams as 13,000 aspirants from Tamil Nadu would appear for the recruitment exam. DMK MP Thamizhachi also appealed to the SBI to shift exam dates respecting the sentiments of the Tamil people. When Congress MP Chellakumar went to join his LS counterparts, police refused entry to him, but later allowed him after the CPM cadres who were camping outside the office resorted to protest.
