Chennai: Annamalai, founder of the organisation “We The Leaders”, has alleged that young people aspiring for government jobs have been treated unfairly in the recruitment process for Assistant Electrical Engineer (AE) posts linked to the state power distribution utility.
In a statement, he said the TNPDCL examination for AE appointments, announced in 2020, was first postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and later cancelled in 2022, with TANGEDCO citing administrative reasons.
He claimed that candidates who had been waiting since 2020 were left without any fresh notification, while the same posts were proposed to be filled through examinations conducted under the Public Works Department route. According to him, administrative lapses also resulted in major hardship related to age eligibility for qualified aspirants.
Annamalai further said that even as a plea seeking age relaxation remained pending in court, results for the TNPSC examination held in 2025 for AE vacancies were released. Before counselling for appointments began, he alleged, candidates who scored well were disqualified on age grounds.
Citing earlier instances where special relaxations were provided—such as for applicants affected by cancelled Teacher Recruitment Board exams, and a five-year age relaxation reportedly granted by the power utility in 2013—he urged the Tamil Nadu government to intervene immediately and extend age-limit relaxation to those affected after years without recruitment between 2019 and 2024.
