CHENNAI: Former IAS officer P Sivagami said Dalits were ignored for senior-most posts in the Finance and Home departments in the state government.
Addressing the Bahujan Samaj Party cadre, after joining the party, she said Dalits faced discrimination when it came to the postings in the higher categories. She alleged that the funds allotted for the Adi Dravida welfare schemes were not reaching those who were really in need of it.
Sivagami, who quit IAS on November 4 and was relieved on Friday last, was appointed as the Senior General Secretary of the party’s Tamil Nadu unit by BSP National Secretary Suresh Mane. Party’s State President Selvam and Convenor Armstrong were also present. Sivagami joined the IAS in 1980. She was in the Revenue Service before joining the IAS.
Mane informed that Sivagami would contest the parliamentary polls next year He also said BSP chief and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati would address a rally here on December 22.
Asked about her decision to quit as IAS officer and taking a plunge into the politics, Sivagami said she was keen to serve the marginalized sections of the society and take up women’s issues as a BSP worker. ``BSP is a national party and it addresses the problems of the downtrodden,’’ she said. As a beginning I would like to create an awareness among the people about BSP,’’ she added. Sivagami, whose husband is still in the government service said ``BSP stands for 50 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and legislatures.’’