CHENNAI:The Office-bearers of Dakshina Mara Nadar Sangam called on Edappadi K Palaniswami at the Secretariat here on Friday and submitted a memorandum containing various demands, including a request for declaring the Ayya Vazhi sect as a minority religion.
After meeting the chief minister, the office-bearers of the outfit told mediapersons that in AyyaVazhi sect, all castes were treated equally and they should be declared as a separate religion. Stating that VV Minerals at Radhapuram had been closed for two years, they said the livelihood of around 10,000 employees who were getting direct employment and one lakh persons who were getting indirect employment through the firm, had been affected severely. The government should take steps to reopen the company, the leaders said.
Thanking the AIADMK government in the State for allowing extraction of Neera from coconut trees, the office-bearers said that the government should also permit extraction of ‘Padhaneer’ from palm trees.