Had a fulfilling maiden meeting with PM Modi, says Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin

Nearly 40 days after taking oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the latter’s official residence in New Delhi.

Following the meeting, Stalin said that the Prime Minister congratulated him on his election win and assured full cooperation for the development of Tamil Nadu. Stalin also said that he handed over a memorandum to the Prime Minister enlisting the demands of Tamil Nadu. 

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Some of the major demands featured in the list include the repeal of the Three Farm laws, revoking the National Education Policy, repealing of the Citizenship Amendment Act, and Draft EIA Notification, besides the implementation of the SethuSamuthram Ship canal project among others. 

Stalin said that he had wanted to meet the Prime Minister right after having taken over as Chief Minister, but couldn’t do so owing to the pandemic. The DMK President quoted the Prime Minister as having said that he could get in contact directly with him for any requirements. 

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Pertaining to COVID-19, Stalin had requested that more vaccine doses should be allocated to Tamil Nadu, in addition to starting vaccine production at the facilities in Chengalpattu and Coonoor. 

Some of the other significant demands featured on the list were the expedited construction of AIIMS in Madurai, the establishment of a new AIIMS at Coimbatore, equal civil and political rights for Eelam Tamils, declaring Tamil as an official language of India and the use of Tamil language in High Court, declaring Thirukkural as the National Literature, establishing a regional branch of Supreme Court in Chennai and more. 

The list of demands covered various subjects such as water resources issues, fisheries, power, finance, health, agriculture, industries, infrastructure projects among others. Stalin said that many of these issues could be solved by the central government alone, some could be done by the State Government (with permission from central government) and that the rest could be solved via efforts from both sides. He added that the governments should work towards fulfilling these demands and assured that his government would continue to emphasise the same.