The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Jayalalithaa unveils Chennai beautification plan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 24, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Jayalalithaa unveils Chennai beautification plan

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, FEB. 23. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today renamed the Chennai City beautification programme, `Chennai Forever Initiative', and sought the participation of all organisations.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said she launched the 10-year investment plan for the Chennai metropolitan area on an outlay of Rs. 18,000 crores, covering all aspects of infrastructure such as water, power, roads, transportation, housing and urban development.

"I have just launched a Chennai city beautification movement where the focus will be on aspects which will certainly improve the quality of life of residents. This programme, implemented with the full participation of the people, will cover parks and playgrounds, sidewalks, medians, sanitation, cleanliness and garbage disposal, waterways and traffic management. I would like to christen this programme Chennai Forever Initiative," she said.

Ms. Jayalalithaa was speaking after receiving the Paul Harris Fellow recognition and the Lifetime Achievement award from the Rotary International here. The award was in recognition of her services to the weaker sections, for empowering women, introducing the cradle baby scheme, implementing the girl child protection scheme, establishing all-woman police stations, eliminating bandit Veerappan, curbing VCD piracy and implementing the Veeranam water supply scheme. The recognition carries a medallion, a certificate and a plaque and the award carries a citation and a silver plaque. It was presented to her on the eve of her 57th birthday. "My mission in life and the very basis of my work ethic is to serve the people of Tamil Nadu and the people of our great nation... The mission statement of the Rotary movement is, in many ways, very similar to the ideals that have moulded my public life," she said.

Referring to the relief and reconstruction efforts after tsunami hit the Tamil Nadu coast, Ms. Jayalalithaa said a number of institutions came forward to assist the State Government. "In this grave hour of need, a number of non-governmental organisations and voluntary organisations came forward to assist the State Government in its massive relief and rehabilitation activities," she said.

Threat of terrorism

Ms. Jayalalithaa said a prerequisite for good governance was peace and maintenance of public order. Terrorist organisations had an "extraordinary reach" and "destructive influence" and there was no alternative to putting them down with an iron hand. "The consequences of hesitation and absence of firmness will only strengthen the hands of such organisations that would be emboldened to consider the State as a soft target and continue to wreak mass destruction with impunity," she said and called for coordination between the agencies of the State and Central Governments.

"Not only should the enforcement agencies be provided with high technology interception and surveillance equipment, the sharing of intelligence between the State and Central agencies involved, including military intelligence and specialised intelligence agencies, such as the RAW, should be brought together under an institutionalised set up," she said.

The Rotary International District 3230 chairman, Benjamin Cherian, requested Ms. Jayalalithaa to allot land in the city for locating the Rotary Centre, which would coordinate the activities of the organisation.

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