Farmers Movement Archive

DMK will probe AIADMK’s multi-crore contracts: M K Stalin

TIRUPUR/ERODE: DMK president M K Stalin said chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s foreign visits to attract investment and two global investors meet have turned out to be failures and alleged that the claim of attracting several crores of investment by the CM was a blatant lie. Addressing party cadres at Rakkiapalayam near Kangeyam on Sunday, Stalin slammed the state and central governments for their ‘economic policies which had dealt a severe blow’ to the industrial community of TN. He said that in 2012, the late chief minister J Jayalalathaa announced Vision 2023 which promised to create Rs 15 lakh crore infrastructure development, employment generation for two crore people, creation of two health cities and Coimbatore–Madurai, Coimbatore–Salem industrial corridor. “None of this happened in the last nine years,” Stalin said. Three years later Jayalalithaa held global investors meet in 2015 and announced that 98 MoUs were signed and investments of Rs 2.42 lakh crore were attracted. “Till date, no white paper has been issued about this,” he said. EPS for his part held a second GIM where he claimed to have inked 304 MoUs attracting investment to the tune of Rs 3.4 lakh crore, which would generate employment for 10 lakh people. “But nothing has happened yet,” Stalin alleged. “Again, Palaniswami went on a global tour to seek investments, because of which the government claimed to have signed 41 MoUs which could bring Rs 8,835 crore with a job creation for 35,000 people,’’ he said. “During the Covid lockdown, EPS said 101 Mous were signed which would bring Rs 88,727 crore investment enabling jobs for 1.7 lakh people. This had also ended up as a failure,” he said. Now EPS has issued a new industrial policy 2021 and has once again claimed that an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore would be brought in and jobs for 20 lakh people, Stalin noted. “EPS says TN has turned out to be a sanctuary for investors. But the truth is he has turned TN into a haven of corruption,” Stalin said. Later in the day in Erode, Stalin alleged that AIADMK government had hurriedly called for 3,888 works in the last three months, worth several crores. Alleging that these contracts were being implemented in a rush to make money, Stalin said that DMK would order a probe into the contracts awarded by the AIADMK government. “I am warning contractors that all these contracts would be subjected to a thorough probe once DMK comes to power,’’ he said. Hitting out at EPS for alleging that petitions given to Stalin would be dumped in garbage and the public can instead complain to AIADMK government by dialing 1100 sitting at the comfort of their houses, the opposition leader sai d the helpline was defunct. “The 1100 helpline which EPS portrays as a new initiative was announced by Jayalalithaa in 2016. How many complaints were received through 1100 and how many were sorted out?’’ he asked. “If the 1100 grievance redressal system was effective why are so many complaints being raised now?” Stalin asked. Addressing a farmer’s conference in Erode, Stalin said that DMK would not only take efforts to scrap the three new farm laws brought by Centre but would also scrap the ‘anti–farmer legislations’ enforced by the AIADMK government. “The AIADMK’s anti-farmer legislations would be scrapped in the first assembly session itself,’’ he said without elaborating on the legislation he was referring to.

The Times of India

2021-02-22

Erode