Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu responds to DMK with school corruption claims

Sridhar Vembu, the Zoho founder post alleging large-scale corruption under the DMK triggered a sharp response from party supporters. Now reacting to that, the tech czar has followed up with a detailed account of what he says his two rural schools experienced under the previous government. DMK supporters had been asking him to back his claims with evidence, calling his earlier post a fabrication designed to help the ruling TVK government.

Two free rural schools

Vembu runs two free schools under the Kalaivani Kalvi Maiyam umbrella — one in Tenkasi, where he is based, and one in Theni — both operating as NIOS institutions. He said the Theni school was originally established by a retired IPS officer who had built the infrastructure but was forced to shut his CBSE school after being unable to obtain a government NOC. "He told me that as an honest retired officer he did not have the money to pay and they would not issue the NOC otherwise," Vembu wrote, adding that the officer then invited him to take over the trust and run a free NIOS school on the premises.

Also Read: Sridhar Vembu: 'Disgusting level of corruption in Tamil Nadu under DMK'

Approvals that never came

In Tenkasi, Vembu said his team applied for DTCP approval to construct new school buildings, having operated out of makeshift facilities for years. He alleged that the approval did not come through for as long as the DMK was in government, and that it was granted shortly after the change of power. The Theni school, he added, faced what he described as "occasional harassment" from the state government because it lacked official registration, and attempts to obtain state board approval also stalled. He did not specify the amounts allegedly demanded in either case.

It was the DTCP approval in Tenkasi that Vembu had originally posted about on X, describing it as a "refreshing change." He also said that officials had since told him not to pay anyone for approvals, a contrast he said was significant enough to warrant public acknowledgement.

Praise for TVK government

While attacking the DMK government, Vembu praised Vijay's TVK government as a refreshing change. He wrote, "The approval came automatically once the government changed. It is this DTCP approval that I posted about in X. I want to once again appreciate the refreshing change. Not only did the approvals come, government people told us not to pay money to anyone for any approvals. I have to appreciate this in public, having endured what we had endured before."

'This is the lie they attack me on'

Pushing back against his critics, Vembu said he did not require the DMK's "certificate on my character" and questioned why someone he described as a "technology nerd mostly immersed in code" would post about school approvals without having experienced the situation firsthand. "This is the 'lie' that DMK wants to attack me on," he wrote.

Vembu also addressed the characterisations being directed at him — including references to his caste and political affiliation — saying he had grown up with nothing, studied in Tamil medium schools, and was not someone who could be pressured into silence. He said he had dedicated the rest of his life to technology and rural development and would not be deterred by personal attacks. He ended his post by saying he would return to writing code.

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The DMK is yet to issue a formal response to the specifics Vembu has now laid out. The exchange is the latest episode in a running public disagreement between Vembu and the party, which has also seen him weigh in on the Sanatana Dharma controversy involving former deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin earlier this year.