The UPA Government at the Centre is sabotaging ‘Vision Tamil Nadu 2023’ a strategic plan for infrastructure development to catapult the State to a high growth plane, claim senior Government officials, veteran bureaucrats and bankers in Tamil Nadu.
They point out that major road building and infrastructure development projects in Tamil Nadu financed by the Union Government have come to a grinding halt since May 2011.
“More than 20 infrastructure development projects under the auspices of the Centre have come to a standstill since the AIADMK Government took over the State administration in May 2011. All these projects have been cancelled and stopped on flimsy grounds,” a senior official of the State Highways Department told The Pioneer.
He pointed out that the much-acclaimed Ennore Port -Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP) has been sabotaged for no reasons.
“A Japanese multi-national giant had set up a factory to manufacture heavy engineering equipment, each weighing 500 tons, exclusively for export. But with the road project, which is a Central Government initiative, getting stalled, investors are in a state of shock,” said a technocrat.
K Malaisamy, former Home Secretary, said the UPA Government was trying to sabotage ‘Vision Tamil Nadu 2023’ prepared under the guidance of the Chief Minister.
“The document is a comprehensive blue print for all-round development of Tamil Nadu. It has spelt out what infrastructure development projects are to be undertaken on a war footing to make Tamil Nadu a global destination for investment and growth. But during the last two years works on all major infrastructure development projects specified in the ‘Vision Tamil Nadu 2023’ document have come to a halt. This is neither fair nor justice,” said Malaisamy.
Among the causalities is the ambitious Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor, which would have seen a quantum jump in the development and economic growth of Tamil Nadu and power projects to the tune of more than 4,000 MW.
Recently, the National Highway Authority of India decided to withdraw from all major road projects in the State.
“Not a single kilometre of National Highway has been laid in the State since May 2011. The Chennai-Bangalore National Highway NH4, is in a dilapidated condition despite a high toll being charged from users. We do not know what happens to the toll collected by the NHAI. The stretch is going from bad to worse as days pass by,” said Malaisamy.
Road widening between Chennai Port and Maduravoyal, that was being undertaken to facilitate smooth flow of container-laden trucks, too has been called off by the Centre.
“This is an attempt to tarnish the image of the State Government. The man in the street is not aware of the fact that it is the Congress-DMK combine which is pulling the rug from under the feet of the State administration,” charged Malaisamy.
The State Highways Department official pointed out that alignments are being changed by the NHAI without taking the State administration into confidence.
“The UPA Government is demolishing the concept of federalism enshrined in the Constitution by such acts,” said S Kalyanaraman, former chief executive, Asian Development Bank.
He pointed out that States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been given special packages to suit the convenience of the UPA Government. “What they are doing is nothing but victimising the people of Tamil Nadu for not electing the DMK-Congress combine in the 2011 Assembly election,” opined Kalyanaraman.
The engineer of the State Roads Authority said the works for the connectivity of ports has been frozen since 2011.
“Former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee had declared the Sagar Mala Project for the inter-connectivity of all major and minor ports in India. The UPA Government which came to power in 2004 never uttered the word Sagar Mala till now,” said Kalyanaraman.
Jayalalithaa had said the Vision Tamil Nadu 2023 document has been conceived with the intention of making Tamil Nadu India’s most prosperous and progressive State, with no poverty and where its people enjoy all the basic services of a modern society and live in harmonious engagement with the environment and with the rest of the world.
The Chief Minister had also promised the people of the State that Tamil Nadu would provide the best infrastructure services in the country in terms of universal access to housing, water, sanitation, energy, transportation, irrigation, connectivity, health care and education.
“Jayalalithaa’s triumph in the 2011 Assembly elections invited supreme indifference and arrogance from the UPA Government, which put a stop to all major ongoing and newly-proposed infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu.
“All major National Highway projects have been deliberately put on hold by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is incapable of winning a municipal election by himself in any part of Tamil Nadu,” charged V Sundaram, former Secretary to the Government.