REACHING OUT TO VOTERS: Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran campaigning in Coimbatore on Saturday. — PHOTO: S. SIVA SARAVANAN

Coimbatore: Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran on Saturday urged the electorate to shun politics of confrontation.

He was launching his campaign in the district for Democratic Progressive Alliance nominees in local body elections.

Listing the benefits brought in by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government by being friendly with the Centre, he said politics should be based on consensus and this applied to local bodies too.

A vote for the DPA would strengthen the hands of Central and State Governments in sustaining and intensifying ongoing welfare schemes besides ensuring funds to local bodies for initiating development works.

Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi believed in fulfilling poll promises and promised only what was possible, he said.

Welfare schemes

In just 100 days, the State had witnessed the launch of welfare schemes such as distribution of television sets, supply of rice at Rs.2 per kg through the public distribution system and waiver of co-operative loans.

In a phased manner, 25 lakh TV sets would be distributed to every PDS cardholder with an outlay of Rs.705 crore, he said. The supply of rice at Rs.2 a kg, the lowest in the country, had enabled the poor to save Rs.30 every month. The free gas stove scheme would be implemented during Pongal.

He pointed out that despite the district having returned only four nominees out of the total 14 in the Assembly elections, the DMK never thought of ignoring the interests of Coimbatore or penalising the electorate. Instead, it had brought in an information technology park at Coimbatore that would provide employment to 30,000 youth in the region. A passport office would be opened in Coimbatore in 2007.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail