CHENNAI : Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday charged that the Centre has been penalising the people of Tamil Nadu for electing the AIADMK to power.
Referring to the gradual reduction in supply of kerosene to Tamil Nadu by 50 per cent within one year of the AIADMK assuming office, the CM, in her letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said “this callous approach on the part of the Government of India in consistently reducing the allocation is tantamount to penalising the poor people of Tamil Nadu simply because they voted for the AIADMK government which is in power at present.” “ The Central allotment of 52,806 KL of kerosene for the months of April and May 2011 was reduced to 44,580 KL without any reason. Now, the allocation has been further whittled down to 39,429 KL for the quarter April-June, 2012 without any reason or logic”, she said.
Jayalalithaa further said she had been all along pointing out to him that the poor people in the rural and urban areas of Tamil Nadu depend on kerosene supplied through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Describing the reduction in supply as totally arbitrary, she said deliberate reduction in the allocation of kerosene by the Centre even to the extent of 50 per cent of the actual requirement was absolutely unreasonable, unacceptable, unfair and unjust.
The CM requested the PM to reconsider the whole matter and ensure justice by enhancing the allocation of kerosene to 65,140 KL per month or at least to 52,806 KL which was allotted for April-May 2011. In this connection, Jayalalithaa recalled her earlier letter to the PM written on June 1, 2011, wherein she had requested Singh to increase the allocation from 44,580 KL to 65,140 KL per month which is the actual requirement.