CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Monday announced that three LPG cylinders would be provided free of cost every year to 1.34 crore families in the State.
He also announced the expansion of the free bus travel scheme for women, which is currently limited to ordinary buses. Under the new "Vettri Payanam Thittam", women will be allowed to travel free of cost on mofussil buses operating between districts, as well as express and deluxe buses operated by the MTC in Chennai and by transport corporations in Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchy and other cities. The scheme will come into effect on October 2.
Making the announcements under Rule 110 in the Assembly, Vijay also said the proposed second airport at Parandur had been dropped and the government was exploring alternative sites for the project.
Vijay said he had visited Parandur last year and expressed support for residents of Ekanapuram and neighbouring villages who had been protesting against the proposed airport. “Works are underway to identify an alternative site,” he said.
Explaining the free LPG cylinder scheme, Vijay said it would cover around 1.34 crore families, including households with an annual income of up to Rs. 2.5 lakh, small and marginal farmers, and other families below the poverty line. The scheme would entail an annual expenditure of more than Rs. 4,000 crore.
The cost of the three cylinders would be directly credited to the bank accounts of eligible beneficiaries, he added.
On the expansion of free bus travel, Vijay said under the existing scheme, women were currently allowed to travel only up to 40 km in ordinary buses. “Now, there will be no restriction on the distance travelled. There will also be no restriction on the number of trips or an income ceiling for availing the benefit,” he said.
The Prandur airport was planned over 5,746 acres of land.Of this, around 2,500 acres comprise private land, while the remaining extent consists of government land belonging to the public works, highways, rural development, revenue, forest and other departments. The project was estimated to cost Rs. 27,400 crore.
During the DMK government, for Parandur project, a total of 1,700 acres of private land had been acquired from 12 villages in the Sriperumbudur and Kancheepuram taluks, excluding Ekanapuram, the village where residents have been protesting the project for more than 1,000 days.
Reacting to the decision to drop the Parandur airport project, DMK chief and former CM MK Stalin said that the decision would set Tamil Nadu's development back by several years, calling it a "massive disappointment" and an "irreversible setback" for the state.
He said the project, conceived during the previous DMK regime, had been carefully planned after evaluating alternative sites, with the land acquisition process almost complete and several preparatory works and approvals already in place.
Stalin said abandoning the project and beginning the process afresh at another location would delay development and affect Tamil Nadu's growth trajectory.
He also criticised Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay for announcing the decision under Rule 110 in the Assembly, which does not allow discussion, saying that "shutting out" debate on such an important issue was troubling.
Stalin argued that a world-class airport for Chennai was essential given Tamil Nadu's position in sectors such as electronics and automobiles. He also warned that abandoning the project could affect the state's ability to achieve its economic targets and called the decision a "devastating blow" to the employment prospects of Tamil Nadu's youth.
Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin also criticised the move, saying the previous DMK government had initiated the project to meet rising passenger demand and future requirements. He said the project had received approval from the Airports Authority of India and the Union Civil Aviation Ministry.
Udhayanidhi said the government had spent substantially on land acquisition, including providing landowners compensation three times the prescribed amount and making arrangements for resettlement. Dropping the project at this stage, he said, could result in a significant financial loss to the government.
(With inputs from PTI)
