The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : MLAs demand say in choosing villages under scheme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 26, 2007
ePaper


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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

MLAs demand say in choosing villages under scheme

Special Correspondent

Say the selection process is flawed

CHENNAI: Members of the Legislative Assembly on Thursday asked district administrations to consider their views, before choosing villages under the `Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam' scheme that aims at providing basic facilities to villages.

Villages with lower revenue are taken up on a priority basis under this scheme, which will cover all villages in about five years.

D. Yasodha (Congress) who raised the issue said that officials decided arbitrarily and did not consult MLAs. She found support from MLAs present in the House.

S. Peter Alphonse (Congress) supported his party colleague and said that accounts could be fudged and even the task of listing villages on the basis of revenue rested with the officials. V. Sivapunniyam (CPI) said that the basis of selecting villages was flawed. G.K. Mani (PMK) said while the intention of the government was to ensure that the benefits reached all needy villages, the scheme was not properly implemented at the lower levels. According to T. Velmurugan (PMK), integrated development of a region could take place only if MLAs were involved. He said that MLAs were better placed to choose which area needed urgent attention and where development could be taken up later.

Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy explained that the selection of villages was made on a scientific basis. There was no scope for individual whims and the entire process was computerised and available to all MLAs for scrutiny. PWD Minister Durai Murugan said that MLAs would face practical difficulties in explaining why a village was chosen earlier for a project and another village three or four years later. This process was best left to officials. Agriculture Minister Veerapandi Arumugham pointed out that when politicians recommended works it was sometimes possible that a few very important works were left out simply because the local body chief of that area was from another party. With officials in charge of the selection process, there would be no such allegations.

C. Govindasamy and Balabharathi (both CPI-M), Mr. Mani, C. Gnanasekharan and Vidiyal Sekhar (both Congress) and Mr. Sivapunniyam also highlighted the problems faced by tanneries and wanted the government to intervene.

A solution had to be found to help both tanneries and farmers, they said.

When Mr. Durai Murugan said that the Supreme Court had issued directives on the issue, the members said that the problem affected many people and hence, the government had to come forward in the interest of the workers and agricultural labourers. Mr. Govindasamy wanted the government to undertake cleaning the Noyyal river and also set up an expert committee to study the issue.

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