CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the governing council meeting of NITI Aayog and pressed for adequate funds for the State.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, he said, “We spoke to Prime Minister separately after the meeting. We explained to him the position of Tamil Nadu and demanded allocation of adequate funds.”
The Chief Minister said he had sought funds for agriculture market and for creating infrastructure to sell agricultural produce in big cities.
However, replying to a query from the media, the Chief Minister added that Prime Minister Modi did not give any assurance.
Denying the charge that his government was unleashing oppressive measures to stamp out any protest relating to people’s livelihood issues, Chief Minister Palaniswami explained the measures taken to close down Sterlite Copper unit in Thoothukudi so that it could not be opened again.
Replying to another question on why he didn’t visit Thoothukudi after the police firing that killed 13 people, he said Deputy Chief Minister and other ministers had visited the place and necessary assistance was given to the affected people.
Earlier, addressing the governing council meeting, the Chief Minister noted that the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Programme was largely drawn from the model of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) and said that State plans to dovetail the CMCHIS into the Centre’s scheme.
Underscoring the need for nationalisation of inter-State rivers through inter-linking thereby creating a framework for optimal utilisation of water resources among States, he recalled that the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had been demanding inter-linking of Mahanadhi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Palar-Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar and to divert the surplus waters of the west-flowing Pamba and Achankovil rivers to Vaippar in Tamil Nadu.