VIRUDHUNAGAR: A day after inspecting a firecracker manufacturing unit in Virudhunagar, where workers urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to ensure a steady future for their children, he announced that the government would bear the education expenses of children of workers who die in cracker unit blasts.
The beneficiaries would be selected by a committee formed at the district level, under the leadership of the collector. Their education expenses, up to higher education, would be covered, Stalin said on Sunday, adding that the government would initially allocate Rs 5 crore for this purpose.
On the second day of his visit, Stalin also announced that a SIPCOT industrial park would be built on 400 acres in Aruppukottai at a cost of Rs 350 crore, generating nearly 10,000 jobs.
Highlighting projects like the Kalaignar Centenary Library, Kalaignar Centenary Jallikattu Arena, and Kalaignar Centenary Super Specialty Hospital, Stalin hit back at Opposition Leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who had alleged that the government allocated crores of rupees to schemes that benefit few and named projects after DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi.
Addressing a gathering at Pattampudhur, Stalin said, “Instead of naming welfare projects after ‘Kalaignar,’ who worked tirelessly for 80 years for the people of Tamil Nadu, should the government use the name of the opposition leader who ‘crawled like a cockroach’ for power?”
“While Virudhunagar district has excelled in sectors such as matchsticks, firecrackers, and printing, agriculture depends on rainfall and kanmois. Considering the welfare of farmers, dams and kanmois in Kariapatti and Tiruchuli will be upgraded at a cost of Rs 17 crore. A new dam worth Rs 21 crore will be built on the south river in Kariapatti. Several waterbodies in the region, including the Kowsika River in Virudhunagar and the Kanjampatti Kanmoi in Aruppukottai, will be restored at a cost of Rs 41 crore,” he said.
He also noted that, in the last three years, 257 roadworks had been completed across panchayats in the district. “Nearly 97% of students who passed Class 12 in the district were enrolled in higher education, thanks to prominent schemes such as Pudhumai Penn. In comparison, the national average is 33%,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Stalin inaugurated the new Virudhunagar district collectorate complex, built at a cost of Rs 77.12 crore, along with 34 other projects in the district worth Rs 21.36 crore. He also provided assistance worth Rs 471.21 crore to 57,556 beneficiaries at an event.