India

Temple Engineer Suspended After Two‑Minute Power Outage During Vice President’s Visit

By PTI

S Janakiraman, a junior electrical engineer at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, was placed under temporary suspension effective October 31, according to an official suspension order issued by the temple administration. The action was taken under Section 56(1) of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, and was signed by R Rukmani, Head of the Board of Trustees for the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple.

The suspension follows a two‑minute power blackout that occurred on October 30 while Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, accompanied by Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, was visiting the temple for darshan. After the visit, as the Vice President addressed journalists on East Chithirai Street, the temple’s power supply was interrupted, plunging the premises into darkness.

The notice cites severe carelessness during a VVIP visit and states that the engineer’s actions brought disrepute to both the state government and the temple administration. Janakiraman has been directed to submit a formal written explanation within 15 days; failure to do so will lead to further administrative action. He also has 30 days to file an appeal with the appropriate authorities.

The Vice President remarked that the incident demonstrated the true extent of power cuts in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK criticised the administration, noting a similar outage occurred the day before during former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s visit. Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister R Nirmal Kumar clarified that the blackout was not a grid failure but a technical glitch at the local substation, where the temple’s power supply was shifted to a generator for the VIP visit.