R. ARIVANANTHAM
NEW DELHI, JUNE 17
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi on Thursday and handed over a 5- page memorandum which runs into 25 demands, including scrapping NEET and other national level eligibility tests, allocation of more COVID vaccine etc.
https://youtu.be/jjcv_PSp2qo
மாண்புமிகு பிரதமர் @narendramodi அவர்களை அவரது இல்லத்தில் சந்தித்து தமிழ்நாட்டிற்கான பல்வேறு வளர்ச்சித் திட்டங்கள் குறித்த கோரிக்கை மனுவை அளித்தேன்.
"உறவுக்குக் கை கொடுப்போம்; உரிமைக்குக் குரல் கொடுப்போம்!" என்ற முத்தமிழறிஞர் கலைஞரின் நிலைப்பாடே திமுக அரசின் நிலைப்பாடு! pic.twitter.com/yBNVUDlRM8
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) June 17, 2021
2/2 pic.twitter.com/2JG95Zw49u
— TN DIPR (@TNDIPRNEWS) June 17, 2021
The maiden meeting of the Chief Minister Stalin with the Prime Minister lasted about 25 minutes. Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan and Chief Secretary V Iraianbu accompanied him.
After meeting the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister told the waiting journalists at Tamil Nadu House that “the meeting was satisfactory. The Prime Minister greeted me on becoming the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He assured that I can contact him at any time regarding the demands of Tamil Nadu.”
Important issues raised in the meeting include scrapping of 3 agricultural legislations, NEET examination, New Education Policy etc.
Stalin said he has urged operationalising the union government’s vaccine manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu.
While one facility is at Chengelpet near Chennai another is in the Nilgiris district.
“I have given a memorandum to the Prime Minister,” he told reporters here after his 30-minute meeting with Modi which he described as satisfactory.
The union government should release full funding due to Tamil Nadu including those related to Goods and Service Tax and these were among the demands that were made in the memorandum, he said.
“Now the Coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India have declined considerably,” he said and indicated the downward graph had paved the way for the crucial meeting today.
“We will implement them all, gradually,” he replied when asked if he would implement his party’s poll assurances, including winding up state-owned TASMAC liquor outlets across Tamil Nadu. On the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, he had sought the Centre’s intervention to ensure the “Eelam Tamils equal civil and political rights.” The 25-point memorandum, which he presented to Modi, highlighted several demands of the state which also included expediting the AIIMS project at Madurai and establishing a new AIIMS in Coimbatore. Reservation for OBC should be included in the all India quota for admission to medical colleges at UG and PG level, he said.
On the controversial Mekedatu reservoir project across the Cauvery river, he said he asked the centre to withdraw the permission granted to Karnataka. Stalin also sought increasing the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam to its full reservoir level of 152 feet and sought the expedition of Godavari-Cauvery and Cauvery-Gundaru rivers linkage and release of Cauvery water during this year as per the Supreme Court order.
Special relief package for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, a new international airport with world-class standards at Chennai, declaring Madurai airport as an international airport, modernising airports in Salem and Thoothukudi, and passing the Bill to provide 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and State Legislatures were among the numerous demands.
Earlier in the morning, the Chief Minister M K Stalin along with his wife Durga Stalin left for Delhi in a special flight at 7 am. He was received at the New Delhi airport by DMK MPs.
Stalin was also given a guard of honour by the police at the entrance of the Tamil Nadu House.
Stalin was also planned to meet the Railway and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and few other ministers tomorrow and will return to Chennai in the evening.
