CHENNAI: Showering encomiums on Tamil language and culture as he has done many times before, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while dedicating Rs 31,530 crore worth of projects at a function held in Chennai on Thursday, promised that the Centre is fully committed to popularising Tamil language and culture and helping Sri Lankan Tamils.
Sharing the stage with Prime Minister Modi for the first time at the function held at Nehru Indoor Stadium a year after being elected as chief minister, DMK leader MK Stalin expatiated about an all-inclusive Dravidian Model, the asymmetry in financial relationship between the Centre and Tamil Nadu and sought the retrieval of Katchatheevu, assent for the anti-NEET Bill, and official status to Tamil on a par with Hindi.
The chief minister said, “Our State is a pioneer, not only in economic and other related factors but also in social justice, equality and women empowerment. Tamil Nadu is a State for inclusive growth. In this Dravidian Model of governance, while taking various welfare and developmental measures, we have also largely corrected the fiscal imbalance and also restructured the finances of the State.”
Stating that TN’s contribution is critical to India’s development and Union government’s fiscal resources, Stalin said the tax share the State received from the Centre is only 1.2%. “The Union government must increase its contribution to schemes and funds allocated to the State to do justice to the contributions made by States like Tamil Nadu to the country’s development and economy. Only then will the true spirit of co-operative federalism be upheld,” he said.
Starting his speech by greeting the audience with ‘vanakkam’ in Tamil, the PM did not respond directly to the CM’s demands. Inaugurating a few projects and laying foundation stones for railway, highways, petroleum and housing projects, the PM said, “It is always wonderful to be back in Tamil Nadu.”
“This land is special. The people, culture and language of this State are outstanding,” the prime minister said and quoted Bharathiar’s poetry. Stating that in every field, someone or the other from TN is always excelling, Modi recalled how Tamil youngsters had played an important role in six of 16 medals won by the Indian contingent in Deaflympics tournament.
‘Government fully focused on building infrastructure’
“In January this year, the new campus of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil was inaugurated in Chennai. It is fully funded by the Centre,” Modi said. The PM also said a 'Subramania Bharati Chair' on Tamil Studies was recently instituted at Banaras Hindu University, and since BHU is located in his constituency, it gave him more joy.
Giving a detailed account of how the projects dedicated by him would be beneficial to the people, the PM said, "When I talk about infrastructure, I refer to both social and physical infrastructure. History has taught us that those nations which gave topmost importance to infrastructure made the transition from developing to developed countries. The government of India is fully focussed on building infrastructure that is top quality and sustainable.”
"The National Education Policy gives special importance to promoting Indian languages. Due to NEP, technical and medical courses can be learned in local languages. Youngsters from Tamil Nadu will benefit from this," he said. Earlier, the CM received the PM at INS Adyar and presented him an English translation of the earliest Tamil epic Silappathigaram.
Slogan war
The DMK and BJP’s political differences echoed in the stadium where the PM inaugurated projects, with supporters of the parties engaging in a slogan war
Top projects
Inaugurated
1,152 houses under Light House Project-Chennai (Rs 116 crore)
Initiated
262-km Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway (Rs 14,870 crore)
21-km 4-lane double-decker elevated road from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal (Rs 5,850 crore)
94-km 4-lane Neraluru-Dharmapuri section of NH-844 (Rs 3,870 crore)
31-km 2-lane Meensurutti-Chidambaram section of NH-227 (Rs 720 crore)
Multi Modal Logistic Park in Chennai (Rs 1,430 crore)