Chennai: School education minister A Rajmohan on Wednesday defended his cabinet colleague S Keerthana amid criticism over her recent visit to a govt school and her interaction with a student.Rajmohan told reporters that ministerial inspections of schools were a long-standing practice and that the industries minister had not recorded the video herself. He said there was nothing wrong with the exchange, adding that she had spoken to the student affectionately, “like an elder sister”. “Keerthana comes from a humble background and studied in a Tamil medium govt school. She groomed herself and developed strong leadership qualities,” Rajmohan said.Keerthana faced criticism after a video of her interaction with govt school students surfaced online, where she purportedly remarked that a student was unable to understand basic English.Several opposition leaders, including former school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, criticised Keerthana’s handling of the situation, saying such actions could traumatise students. Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram, however, defended her, saying TVK MLAs were first-time legislators with little political or public life experience. “It will take some time for them to acquire maturity. I am not justifying their actions, but we should give them some time to settle,” he said.On Tuesday, electricity minister R Nirmalkumar told reporters that the chief minister’s office had issued clear instructions to avoid unnecessary inspections. He urged his colleagues not to post videos of routine inspections and daily administrative activities online.
