COIMBATORE: Chief Minister MK Stalin said the DMK government will always protect nature like people and that protection of The Nilgiris is the protection of Tamil Nadu while distributing the welfare assistance in Udagamanadalam on Saturday at in Government Arts college grounds. The CM handed over Rs 28.13 crore-worth aid to 9,500 beneficiaries.
He said, based on Tamil saint Vallalar’s principle, the DMK government will protect people and all living beings of the hills (Nilgiris) and that this is the Dravidian Model. CM started his speech with a few words in Baduga and Thoda languages.
“Though I have visited The Nilgiris often, this is the first time I am participating in government function as the Chief Minister,” he said. “Carrot, beans, ginger, tea leaves and flowers cultivated in The Nilgiris would be profitable cultivations for farmers if the produce is value-added and exported. The State government has taken steps to set up centres for organic farming resources and to export food products,” MK Stalin said.
On the janmam lands (Section 17 lands) and the TANTEA issue, he said he will discuss it with the ministers and officials in Chennai to find a solution. CM also assured to include tourist guides, small traders, taxi drivers and tourism-sector-related workers under the Tamil Nadu Unorganised Workers Welfare Board.
Earlier in the day, he inaugurated the John Sullivan statue at Government Botanical Garden. Later on Saturday, the CM held a videoconference with legal experts on releasing the six more convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in Udagamandalam.