Tamil Nadu - Nagapattinam   

Work in tandem with Government, Union Minister tells NGOs

Responsible act: Krishnammal Jagannathan, left, secretary of LAFTI, presenting a cheque for Rs.30 lakh to Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, at Tirukkuvalai in Nagapattinam district on Saturday.

Nagapattinam: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should play a vital role and join hands with the Government to achieve economic development, said Mrs. Subbulakshmi, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, at Tirukkuvalai in the district on Saturday.

Addressing a function after receiving a cheque for Rs.30 lakh from the Land for Tillers Freedom (LAFTI) towards repayment of first instalment of loan amount for the lands purchased by the Dalit farmers to the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), the Minister said that the NGOs should take special efforts with the Government in implementing various schemes for the economic development of the community.

She praised the LAFTI for its efforts in getting at least an acre of cultivable land for the oppressed classes and appealed to other NGOs to do this type of service to the society.

The Minister pointed out that the NSFDC had provide a total loan of Rs.1.91 crore to 1,061 beneficiaries through LAFTI in the district and Rs.1.57 crore subsidy by the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing Development Corporation (TAHDCO) for purchasing 1,055 acres of land. Besides, the State Government has exempted stamp duty to the tune of Rs.72 lakh for registration of these lands.

The Collector, Tenkasi S. Jawahar, who presided over the function, said that several welfare programmes were being implemented in the district for upliftment of the weaker sections of the society.

U. Mathivanan, Minister for Dairy Development, said that the State Government was according priority for the upliftment of the oppressed classes.

Mrs. Krishnammal Jagannathan, secretary of LAFTI who handed over the cheque to Mrs. Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, said that the LAFTI was rendering service for more than four decades in enabling tillers acquire and own a small piece of land of at least one acre for subsistence farming.

She pointed out that the central idea of ownership of cultivable land gives the impetus for the poor to become self-reliant, the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave.

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