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Arikkamedu: Minister cites lack of enough funds

PUDUCHERRY: Land acquisition for the project aimed at developing Arikkamedu, the famous archaeological site, as a tourist spot had not taken off due to non allocation of adequate funds, Minister for Tourism Malladi Krishna Rao told the Assembly on Monday.

Replying to a question raised by R.K.R.Anantharaman (Pattali Makkal Katchi), he said Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), which had been appointed as the consultant for the project, had submitted its draft plan for developing Arikkamedu at an estimated cost of Rs.10 crore.

The government had identified a 33-acre site in Ariyankuppam, Mr.Rao said, adding that Rs.8.50 crore was needed for acquiring the land. Raising the issue during the Question Hour, Mr.Anantharaman asked if the government had any proposal to develop the historic Arikkamedu site as a tourist destination.

The Centre had already earmarked Rs.3 crore including Rs.1.3 crore as grant-in-aid for this purpose, he said, adding that the government should give details with regard to utilisation of these funds.

Both Chief Minister N.Rangasamy and Mr.Rao said the government was aware of the historical importance of Arikkamedu.

Alleging that anti-social elements had been misusing the place, Mr.Anantharaman stressed the need for providing basic amenities such as road facility to reach the area.

Mr.Rangasamy said the government would take necessary steps in the current financial year to develop the archaeological site at Arikkamedu.

Answering R.Rajaraman’s question on jobs provided to the B.Ed. graduates, Education Minister M.O.H.F.Shahjahan said 1,639 persons had applied for school assistant grade-II posts as on July 4, 2006 and 371 applicants had sought jobs as Tamil teachers as on August 26, 2006.

However, there were only a total of 46 vacancies for these posts, he pointed out. The government was not in a position to provide employment to all the candidates who had completed B.Ed. and D.Ted. “The supply was more than the demand,” Mr.Shahjahan said, adding that 1,000 students passed from the B.Ed. colleges and teacher training institutes in the Union Territory every year.

To another question, Minister for Industry and Power V.Vaithilingam said 16 big industrial units, 31 medium units, 747 small units and 134 tiny units had been established in Puducherry during the last five years. These industrial units had provided jobs for 8,519 persons.

Replying to the question raised by R.Siva (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), the Chief Minister said the government would shortly compile the gazette notifications with regard to the properties belonging to temples in the UT and bring them out in the form of a book.

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