CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and raised key issues concerning the state.
The CM’s wish list included setting up of a defence research facility in Tamil Nadu, blocking of Karnataka’s proposed Mekedatu dam project, releasing of fishermen detained by Sri Lanka, and rendering of Tamil Thai Vazhthu at the beginning of government functions.
Later in the day, the CM also met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and handed over a memorandum requesting her to prioritise allocation of funds for ports, national highways, railway projects and industrial corridors required for the state’s continued development.
The other demands made by the CM included establishing institutes of national importance in TN and allocation of funds for implementing Metro Rail projects in Hosur, Coimbatore, and Madurai.
Thanking the PM for facilitating the return of the Anaimangalam copper plates to India during his recent visit to the Netherlands, Vijay urged Modi to support the setting up of the Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS) — a unit under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) — in Tamil Nadu.
The CM said discussions on establishing both the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Design and Development Centre and CABS in Tamil Nadu have been going on for the past few years.
Vijay urges centre to press Sri Lanka to release TN fishers, boats
On the Tamil Thai Vazhthu issue, the CM referred to a recent communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs and said that though the letter does not bar the singing of the state song at the beginning of functions, “it is observed that in recent functions held at Lok Bhavan, Tamil Thai Vazhthu was sung at the end”.
Saying that the invocation song occupies a unique position in TN, the CM appealed to the PM to make suitable modifications to allow the Tamil Thai Vazhthu to be sung at the beginning of all government functions.
On the Mekedatu dam project, Vijay said the proposal is contrary to the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s final award and the SC’s judgment. Besides, the CM urged the centre not to permit the project without the consent of the co-basin states of TN, Kerala and Puducherry.
Raising the issue of the frequent arrest of TN fishers by the SL Navy, the CM told the PM that 12 such incidents had been reported so far this year, with 58 fishermen currently in custody in SL and 266 fishing boats seized.
He urged the Centre to press the SL government for the immediate release of the fishermen and their boats. Rejecting allegations about Union Home Minister Amit Shah denying audience to Vijay, a senior official said the minister had offered to meet the CM on Friday as he was fully occupied on Thursday. But since the CM was scheduled to leave for Chennai on Friday morning, he had conveyed to Shah that he would meet the HM during his next visit to Delhi.