Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Greater Chennai Corporation has dismissed the personal allegations aimed at the first citizen by its duffadar, a first woman to be appointed to the role, as baseless. The civic body said the transfer of the marshal to Manali zone is no way related to Mayor Priya. The transferee has alleged vendetta by the mayor's office and linked her transfer to her wearing lipstick of the same colour worn by the mayor.
Denying the claims, the mayor's office has clarified that the transfer of the daffadar to be a routine exercise necessitated by official exigencies and has got nothing to do with any cosmetics, dismissing the vendatta theories being passed around.
Madhavi (50), who was working as the duffadar of Chennai Mayor Priya, was transferred to the Manali regional office last month. While the transfer order has accused Madhavi of not showing up for work “properly”, the transferee has a different tale to tell.
'Unsatisfactory reasons of transfer'
Madhavi, who spoke to ETV Bharat over her transfer to distant Manali zone office, said that she was asked five questions in the memo by the mayor's office regarding the job transfer adding she gave correct answers to all those five questions.
Madhavi said that she was questioned about not coming to work on time on August 6, saying she had suffered a fracture in her leg, which she formally reported to the Mayor's office.
She further said that she was accused of neglecting the order of the higher authorities and when she requested to be given the details, the mayor's office failed to do so. On August 7, Madhavi said that she was transferred to the Manali office which is far away.
'Punished for wearing lipstick'
Madhavi recalled that Mayor Priya's Personal assistant Sivasankaran had spoken to her during her posting at her office and insisted that she should no longer wear lipstick. Madhavi said that Sivasankaran urged her to put on a different color of lipstick as worn by the Mayor. She said that she told Sivasankaran that wearing lipstick was her personal choice and he should not interfere in it.
Madhavi further alleged that she was asked not to talk to other people working in the office and avoid going out with anyone on holidays. She said that Mayor Priya personally reprimanded her even though she had participated in the Women's Day program organized by the Chennai Corporation. "Manali zonal office is far away from my home. As a single mother, they have shifted me to such a far office to take revenge," Madhavi alleged.
Mayor's office rubbishes allegations
Meanwhile, the mayor's office said that wearing of lipstick had nothing to do with Madhavi's transfer adding she was transferred “because she did not come to work regularly”.
In a press release issued in this regard, a spokesperson for the Greater Chennai Corporation said Madhavi, who served as a duffedar in the Mayor’s office, was issued a memo last month "regarding administrative defaults, including repeatedly violating office procedures, arriving late without proper notice, and not performing assigned tasks".
"No inquiry or clarification was sought regarding her personal grooming, and no investigation was conducted. Some media reports have incorrectly claimed that her transfer was due to her personal grooming. It is clarified that her transfer to the Manali Zone office under the Greater Chennai Corporation was solely due to administrative reasons, not her personal grooming choices,” the statement read.
Mayor Priya is the third woman Mayor of Chennai after Tara Cherian and Kamakshi Jayaraman.
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