THANJAVUR: The Tami Nadu government is committed to protecting the interests and welfare of farmers and will not support schemes that go against them, said Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami here on Wednesday. Speaking at the MGR centenary celebrations, Palaniswami recalled the steps taken by former chief ministers MGR and J.Jayalalithaa for protecting the interests of Thanjavur farmers.
“It was MGR who mooted the idea and appealed to the Centre to nationalise rivers in 1982 and waived loans to the tune of Rs 330 crore to farmers. It was Jayalalithaa who undertook a fast at Marina beach at Chennai over the Cauvery issue, launched a legal battle and got the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal gazetted. Following in their footsteps, the present government is continuing its legal battle and hopes to get a good judgment from the Supreme Court,” the Chief Minister said.
Government has taken up schemes for improving water resources in the state. With respect to Thanjavur district, the combined water scheme from Kollidam was implemented for people in Peravurani and Pattukottai areas and habitats alongside. GA canal modernisation will be taken up soon, the chief minister said.
The Chief Minister also said that state government had taken up quarrying and sale of sand only to help people by providing sand at an affordable price to the poor.
Paying rich tributes to MGR, the Chief Minister said that it is appropriate that the MGR centenary is celebrated in a grand manner in Thanjavur as MGR studied for three years in the municipal school at Yanaiyadi in the temple town of Kumbakonam. He drew a comparison between King Raja Raja Chola and MGR and said that while the Raja built the magnificent Big temple, MGR established the Tamil University at Thanjavur. “MGR’s contribution to Tamil is noteworthy. He spoke in Tamil at a meeting at Kerala though he was a Malayalee. He collected Tamil books and started the Gandhi library. He was a voracious reader of Tamil books,” the Chief Minister said.
He highlighted the achievements of AIADMK government in the field of education, agriculture and health.
The Chief Minister released a new paddy variety MGR 100 brought out by the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University at the function. He inaugurated 105 completed works worth '632 crore, laid foundation stone for 43 projects worth Rs 188 crore and distributed benefits to the tune of Rs 271 crore to 40,101 persons at the meeting. He also released a stamp.
Deputy CM O.Panneerselvam, P.Dhanapal, Assembly Speaker, R.Duraikannu, agriculture minister, M.Thambidurai and R.Vaithilingam MPs also spoke. Also present were R.Venkatesan, Secretary, Tamil Development and Information and Public Relations departments, and A.Annadurai, Thanjavur district collector.
