CHENNAI: Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin on Monday strongly criticised Industries Minister S Keerthana over her recent ‘inspection’ of a government school near Sivakasi, accusing her of humiliating a child on the pretext of assessing their English proficiency.
In a statement, Udhayanidhi described the minister’s conduct as “shocking, disgusting and grossly insensitive”. Referring to her as a ‘Reels Minister’, he said she should first be taught how to interact with students and when cameras should be kept away.
“Our responsibility is to instil confidence in children, not shatter their self-confidence,” he said, urging the minister to stop using schoolchildren for publicity and social media reels.
Meanwhile, BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran also criticised the inspection, terming it an “excess” committed in name of official inspections.
He further urged Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to issue clear guidelines to ministers on how official inspections should be conducted, given the ministers’ lack of experience. Nagenthran also demanded appropriate action against Keerthana, alleging that government school students had been used as props for publicity during the visit.