T.N.'s industrial development not aggressive like in other southern States: Minister
Information Technology Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Tuesday said Tamil Nadu's performance in industrial development had not been aggressive like in other southern States.
'Though Tamil Nadu fared well in other parameters like social development, social equity and social justice in the last 20 to 30 years, its performance in industrial development is not aggressive like in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,' he said after releasing logo and a vision document 'Pudhu Madurai,' 2035, at a Confederation of Indian Industry function in Madurai.
According to him, though Tamil Nadu has set a benchmark for other aspects, it lagged far behind in urban policy and urban planning.
Noting urbanisation plans have come with their own merits and demerits, Mr. Rajan said he has always been consistent about critiquing the Smart Cities Mission project and decried many of its plans.
'Similarly, prominence of Madurai has not kept pace with other places like Coimbatore, Tiruchi, among others, which have grown at a faster rate,' he said. Maybe those districts were not faster in growth, but were aggressive about marketing themselves and Madurai has not been so outspoken like others.
'Though the current government tried several ways to pull back the projects by taking many corrective measures, many like Periyar bus stand complex and ELCOT buildings could not be opened as the government did not bother to get environment clearance and building plan approval,' he observed.
According to him, many plans under the smart city project were ill-conceived. He recounted a project in his constituency which involved uprooting paver blocks on Chithirai streets around the temple and replacing them with four-inch granite stones.
Calling it as 'hyper-stupidity,' Mr. Rajan said, 'The replacement made the pathway uneven, made the surface hot for pedestrians.'
The Minister said even when the government had good visions, it usually takes forever to implement them. One such plan was the shifting of Madurai prison, which, as Finance Minister (earlier), he thought could be done in one-and-a-half years. But, after hitting several roadblocks and only after four years has it got land allocated for the construction of a new prison, he added.
'Another thing as Finance Minister I did was bring metro to Madurai and good thing is we have a Detailed Project Report (DPR), but due to discrepancies in planning and funding, it took more time than expected,' he stated.
In a place like India where government is vital as it controls key resources, the role of industrial and traders' associations were equally important, he added.
Commenting on the vision documents released during the event, he said such a remarkable plan for Madurai prepared by CII was unlikely to be prepared with such detailing and standard by a bureaucrat.
C. Devarajan, vice-chairman, CII Tamil Nadu, said Madurai which encompassed a long and rich history had a capacity in it to transform into a global city.
'The vision document akin to reports from other districts is to bring a change in the city if all its people give equal contribution,' he added.
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