CPI to burn union budget copies across TN today

A day after buying halwa from the famous Iruttukadai in Tirunelveli, CM MK Stalin dug at the centre for ignoring TN in the Union budget.

Announcing various schemes for the district today, Stalin said Tirunelveli is famous for its halwa, “but now the halwa given by the centre to the state has become more famous”.‘Halwa’ is a Tamil expression for the sweet dish to mean deception.

Slamming the centre for not allocating funds to the state, the CM said the southern districts will grow by leaps and bounds in the next five years. “It will be a tiger leap,” he said.

Stalin was speaking at a government function at Tirunelveli Medical College campus.

He inaugurated completed projects worth Rs 1,304 crore, laid the foundation stone for new projects worth Rs 309 crore and distributed welfare assistance worth Rs 167 crore to 75,151 beneficiaries.

“The Thamirabarani-Karumeniyar-Nambiyar river-linking project will bring surplus water from the Thamirabarani river through a 75-km canal to the drought-prone regions of Thisayanvilai and Sathankulam. The project estimated to cost Rs 1,060.76 crore has been piloted for the past two years and has been officially launched today,” said Stalin adding key projects including Tirunelveli Western Bypass Road from Thalaiyuthu to Konganthanpatti, Ambasamudram Bypass Road and a Rs 605.75-crore combined water supply scheme will be taken up soon.

“Also the plans for an eco-tourism and adventure park in the Manimuthar dam area is under review. Tirunelveli city will get an IT park in Perumalpuram and a new district headquarters hospital in Valliyoor. Other medical infrastructure projects include a 50-bed ICU and laboratory at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, a super-specialty department for heart, neurology, nephrology, and liver diseases, and an additional block at Ambasamudram Government Hospital,” said the CM.


“A new SIPCOT industrial park will be set up in 2,291 acres in Marukalkurichi and Thiruvaramangai villages in Nanguneri taluk. Another SIPCOT industrial park will be set up in 1,200 acres of dryland in Moolakaraipatti. To decongest Tirunelveli city, a Y-shaped railway flyover will be built between Palayamkottai and MGR Bus Stand at a cost of Rs 120 crore,” said Stalin.

Coming back to slamming the centre, the CM said in December 2023 heavy rain had affected Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Kanyakumari, and Thoothukudi districts. Though two Union ministers visited the flood-hit areas, they didn’t give any relief to the state, he claimed.

Slamming the Union budget, the CM said the Centre is deceiving the state again and again and has given funds only to BJP-ruled states and election-bound states.

He also said the Porunai museum to be built at a cost of Rs 33 crore will be completed by April.