Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will leave for New Delhi later in the day to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is expected to request the Prime Minister to speed up the process of setting up AIIMS in Madurai besides various issues.
Palaniswami is also expected to hold discussion with Modi over intra-party wrangling in the AIADMK.
Though it was announced by the Centre that AIIMS would come up at Thoppur in Madurai, no follow up action was taken up by the Union government. It was revealed through a reply for a RTI application. This led to criticism from various political parties. Hence, the Chief Minister is expected to raise the issue with Modi during the meeting tomorrow.
Palaniswami, who will leave later in the evening to the national capital, would also reiterate early allocation of funds for local bodies in the State, sops for Tamilnadu fishermen, funds for natural disaster, assistance for backward communities among others.
Remember a coupe of days ago, the Chief Minister wrote a letter seeking the intervention of the Prime Minister to secure the release of six fishermen who were arrested by the Iranian Coast Guard and taken to Kish island.
Palaniswami also shot a letter to the Prime Minister stating that there is a shortage of coal in Tamilnadu and further stated that 72,000 tonne of coal is required to generate electricity in the State.
An average of 72,000 tonnes of coal is required per day to continuously generate power in the plants of Tamilnadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).
This means a minimum of 20 rakes of coal are required on a daily basis but Tamilnadu is receiving only seven to eight rakes per day. The State’s critically low coal stock will mean that the thermal power stations will have to be shut down. This will lead to power outages in the State, he said.
He further requested Modi in his letter to instruct the concerned departments to release 72,000 tonnes of coal per day to the State.
All these issues are expected to be discussed at the meeting.