Citizens’ Research Collective on SEZ

Salem, February 10, 2008: Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder leader S. Ramadoss has said his party was taking a stand similar to that of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on the Sethusamudhram project issue.

“We endorse the DMK stand only on the project,” he said and added that Congress leader Ambika Soni’s view on the issue was that of her personal one. It need not reflect the views of the party to which she belonged to, he said.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, Dr. Ramadoss said he was not against State’s development as projected by a few and would whole-heartedly welcome any developmental project that would generate employment opportunities. But the PMK in Tamil Nadu was like All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) in West Bengal, where the partner in the CPI (M)-led coalition government was agitating on policy issues such as SEZ. “We too take a similar stand with constructive approach towards any subject though we support the DMK government from outside,” he said.

Dr. Ramadoss wanted the police not to harass women and innocents under the guise of investigation in the Adiyamankottai police station incident on Saturday.

He said his demand for a judicial enquiry on phone-tapping was only to find out whether the media reports were true or not. “We strongly believe the Chief Minister who would never resort to any such activities. But he might have been kept in dark by the officials concerned,” he pointed out.

He also sought a few clarifications from the Tamil Nadu government on the handing over of 1000 acres of land in Seiyyur near Chennai on the East Coast Road to a private realtor for establishing a satellite township and a Special Economy Zone (SEZ). The land, he said, had previously been identified for establishing a Thermal Power Station.

Earlier he attended a meeting in which a group of Tamil scholars and poets felicitated him.

Source: The Hindu