Bharatiya Janata Party state president K Annamalai said that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government does not care for the welfare of the Adi Dravidar community of the state.

In a letter put out on Twitter, he said that the Adi Dravidar students are being made to stay in poor and unhygienic conditions at the hostels built for their education in cities like Chennai.

Elaborating on the difficulties faced by the students residing in the hostels, he said that there have been numerous complaints regarding leaking roofs, worm-infested food, and rainwater entering the hostel during monsoon.

He also that basic facilities like pillows and blankets and even the meagre allowance of Rs 150 per student for miscellaneous expenses has not been provided in some cases.

He further added that even though a huge amount of Rs 4,099 crore was allotted to the department, 20 out of the 33 schemes devised for Adi Dravidar welfare were not implemented.

It was ironic that while Rs 757 crore was spent in paying the employees of the department, the condition of the hostels remained pathetic.

Questioning the DMK, he asked what sort of 'social justice' was this and said that the party was crushing the dreams of hundreds of students who had come from far flung areas with dreams of a better life.

The Adi Dravidar community is listed among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Tamil Nadu and makes up half of the SC population of the state according to the 2011 census.