CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government will file a review petition in the Supreme Court within the next few days against its order directing the eviction of more than 15,000 families living in forest areas of Western Ghats, Electricity and Law Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar said on Thursday.
Addressing reporters at the Secretariat after the the Agriculture Budget ended, the minister said no eviction drive would be carried out until the review petition is heard. “The TVK government will stand by the rights of people who have been living as farmers in these areas for over 100 years,” he said.
Rejecting the Opposition’s criticism that the State Budget merely repackaged old schemes, Nirmal Kumar said most welfare programmes in Tamil Nadu have been in place for several decades and have been strengthened by successive governments. He said the nutritious meal scheme introduced by the Justice Party was later expanded by subsequent governments.
The minister alleged that the previous government had failed to create new sources of revenue and left public sector organisations, including the Electricity Board, Transport Department, and Aavin, in a poor financial condition.
“The chief minister is taking steps to revive these institutions and improve the state’s finances. The Budget presented did not place any additional burden on the people,” he said.
On the Cauvery issue, the minister said the government was consulting its alliance partners before taking a decision.
On electricity billing mismatches, Nirmal Kumar said the reassessment was completed for over 1.6 lakh consumers, with errors found in only around 1,200 cases. Most discrepancies occurred because houses were locked during meter reading and previous readings had to be considered. A detailed report on the reassessment would be released soon, he added.
