Karunanidhi on mind, Stalin govt lines up development plans, memorial

CM says State will establish a grand memorial at Marina Beach to educate future generations about the late DMK patriarch’s achievements and service to Tamils
Representational picture: EXPRESS
Representational picture: EXPRESS

CHENNAI: A memorial for former chief minister M Karunanidhi will be constructed at the Marina at a cost of Rs 39 crore, announced Chief Minister MK Stalin in the Assembly on Tuesday. During the first Rule 110 announcement of this government in the Assembly, Stalin said, “Karunanidhi spent 80 years of his life for the public, 70 years in the cine field and journalism, 60 years as a member of the Assembly, and 50 years as the DMK president. The leader was elected to the Assembly 13 times and served as chief minister five times.” The Chief Minister also went on to list out the schemes and projects launched by Karunanidhi.

“To make future generations aware of the tall leader’s achievements and services, a memorial with photographs will be established in a sprawl of 2.21 acres at the Anna Memorial premises in Marina,” he added. It may be recalled that following the former chief minister’s demise on August 7, 2018, the DMK had to battle it out in the court for hours to secure a spot near the late leader CN Annadurai’s memorial to lay to rest Karunanidhi’s remains.

The then AIADMK government allocated the land only after the High Court passed an order in this regard. In this situation, the AIADMK government also constructed a memorial for former chief minister J Jayalalithaa within the party founder MG Ramachandran’s memorial, and it was opened this year.

MK Stalin’s announcement on Tuesday was welcomed by the members of all parties. AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam said, “My father was a devotee of Karunanidhi, and he always kept safe the script books of Parasakthi and Manoharan. We (O Panneerselvam and his brothers) used to read and memorise the dialogues from the books. The AIADMK wholeheartedly welcomes the decision to establish a memorial for Karunanidhi.”

TVK president T Velmurugan, KMDK general secretary ER Eswaran, MMK president MH Jawahirullah, Sadhan Thirumalai Kumar from MDMK, Sinthanai Selvan from VCK, and Nainar Nagendran from BJP also welcomed the decision.

The urban story 

A quick look at Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru’s announcements in the State Assembly on Tuesday 

Rs 460 crore for desiliting 600 ponds in urban local bodies 
Rs 100 crore to establish 50 library cum knowledge centres for helping students preparing for competitive exams
Rs 300 crore to renovate roads and way lanes in Chennai Corporation  
2.5 lakh saplings will be planted under the Singara Chennai 2.0 scheme
Rs 2,056 crore for underground sewage project works in 17 areas 
 Detailed project to upgrade the old sewage water infrastructure in Chennai central 
Rs 880 crore for implementing a combined drinking water project to provide water to 665 rural habitats in six panchayats - Nannilam, Mannargudi, Thiruthuraipoondi, Kottur, Thiruvarur and Koradacherry in Thiruvarur district 
Rs 5,800 crore for implementing a combined drinking water project for four corporations, 10 town panchayats and 3,973 rural habitats and for Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur districts  
Rs 600 crore and Rs 660 crore for a combined drinking water projects in Dindigul and Madurai districts respectively
Rs 300 crore for renovating water resources, parks, sports and entertainment facilities in Chennai Corporation

Shielding villages from impact of climate change

Rural Development Minister KR Periakaruppan declared a massive drive costing Rs 1,149 cr to prepare villages to face impact of climate change

 Allocation announcements

Rs 2,097 crore for laying 5,780 km of rural roads in panchayat unions and village panchayats, and building 121 bridges

Rs 3 crore for establishing 50 organic farm clusters

Rs 2 crore for maintaining Resource Inventory Register to protect biodiversity 

12,525 libraries in village panchayats will be renovated with differently-abled-friendly facilities

Honorarium for village panchayat presidents will be hiked from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000

Rs 916.75 crore for upgrading basic infrastructure in rural areas

62,625 women members of Self Help Groups will be trained to conduct tests for checking drinking water quality

Model Village Panchayat award (Rs 15 lakh and shield) will be given to one panchayat in each district for efficient implementation of health initiatives

40,000 new Self Help Groups will be formed across the State

Bank accounts, records and forms maintained by village panchayats will be reviewed and simplified

Rs 188 crore will be provided to strengthen SHGs, Rotation Fund and the Community Fund 

Rs 60 crore for imparting skill development training to 10,000 youth hailing from poor economic backgrounds 

Rs 1.3 crore for conducting job melas at 130 places

68 lakh saplings will be planted across State

10,000 small check dams will be constructed

25,000 community percolation pits will be constructed

1.75 lakh individual percolation pits will be constructed

500 community wells and 1,500 individual wells will be drilled.

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