Temple Engineer Suspended After Short Blackout During VVIP Visit

A junior electrical engineer at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple received a temporary suspension following a two-minute power outage during a high-profile visit. The temple administration stated that S Janakiraman was suspended effective October 31 under relevant provisions of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act.

The disciplinary action stemmed from an October 30 incident where the Vice President and the Tamil Nadu Governor visited the temple. As the Vice President spoke to journalists following the visit, the power supply failed, leaving the area in darkness for two minutes.

According to the official notice, the employee showed severe carelessness during a critical VVIP visit, which brought disrepute to the state government and temple management. The suspended engineer must submit a written explanation within 15 days or face further administrative action, and has 30 days to file an appeal.

Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister R Nirmal Kumar explained that the blackout was not a grid failure, but a technical issue at a local substation while shifting the temple's power to a generator. Meanwhile, political reactions followed, with the AIADMK noting a similar previous outage during the visit of a former chief minister.