MADURAI: Taking a serious view of the delay in the reconstruction of a government library in Thondi town panchayat in Ramanathapuram despite the court's direction, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday sought a status report from the state government on the proposals pending before it with regard to the construction of libraries across the state.
A bench comprising justices D Krishnakumar and R Vijayakumar gave the direction on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by I Kalanthar Ashik Ahamed of Ramanathapuram, seeking removal of encroachments from the land which was assigned for reconstruction of the aforesaid library.
"The library in question was constructed in 1998, but got dilapidated and became unfit for use after 2008. Following an order passed by the high court, the library building was demolished and has not been reconstructed till date," stated Ahamed. He alleged that the land assigned for the new library, which measured up to 10 cents, has now been reduced to mere three cents due to encroachments.
When the case was heard on Wednesday, the government counsel stated that funds were yet to be sanctioned for the reconstruction and added that the library has currently been functioning in a local government school. However, the judges orally pointed out that when the government collects library cess from the people, it is duty-bound to provide proper library facilities to them. They also directed the government to file a status report, warning that if the report was not satisfactory, then a heavy cost would be imposed on the government. The case has been adjourned to January 22.