NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, SEPT 23
To tackle the coronavirus pandemic in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the assistance to Rs 3,000 crore under a package and sought a Rs 1,000 crore adhoc grant.
Taking part in a virtual meet chaired by Modi to review the COVID situation, he also thanked the Prime Minister for enacting three “pro-farmers legislations, which would go a long way in bringing stability to the agriculture sector.”
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Agriculture activities, food processing and other industries are almost back to full operation throughout the state, he said. The state has received Rs 511.64 crore from the Centre in two tranches under the Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness package out of an envelope of Rs 712.64 crore allotted to it, the Chief Minister said. “I request this package for Tamil Nadu may be stepped up to Rs 3,000 crore as per my earlier request. This will help us to further strengthen our health infrastructure,” he told Modi.
Noting that Tamil Nadu has fully exhausted the State Disaster Response and Mitigation Fund, the Chief Minister requested an ad-hoc grant of Rs 1,000 crore from the National Disaster Response Force funds immediately to fight the pandemic.
“Releasing pending Custom Milled Rice (CMR) subsidy of Rs 1,321 crore at this time, will facilitate paddy procurement,” an official release here quoted him as having said at the meeting.
The Chief Minister also apprised Modi that the state Assembly days ago had unanimously passed a bill to provide 7.5 per cent internal reservation in the UG medical courses for the NEET qualified students from state government schools with effect from this academic year. The bill has been sent for the assent of the Governor and is aimed at bringing equality and social justice to students who were mostly poor, he said.
Modi reviewed the COVID pandemic situation with chief ministers and other representatives of seven high- case-load states (Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Punjab) through video conference.
