Stalin meets PM Modi with three key demands

Immediate approval for Phase-II of Chennai Metro rail project, release of funds under Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme and release of Indian fishermen were the demands.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi with three demands – immediate approval for Phase-II of Chennai Metro rail project, release of funds under Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme by not linking it to National Education Policy, and release of Indian fishermen and their boats in Sri Lankan custody. 

Stalin also made a “courtesy visit” to former Congress President Sonia Gandhi and visited the family of late CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury to offer his condolences. DMK is a long-time ally of the Congress and Stalin makes it a point to meet Sonia Gandhi or his son Rahul Gandhi whenever he visits the national capital. 

After a 45-minute meeting with Modi, the Chief Minister said the Prime Minister “patiently” listened to the demands listed by the state government in a detailed memorandum and promised to look into them. “We continue to place our demands before the Union Government without compromising on our core ideology. We will never deviate from our ideology, and you should understand this,” he told reporters about his meeting with Modi. 

Drawing Modi’s attention to the plight of Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait, the Chief Minister said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) should take immediate steps to bring back 145 fishermen who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and their boats with fishing equipment. 

“The recent policy of nationalization of boats impounded by the Sri Lankan government is an extreme step which affects the livelihood and future of lakhs of fishermen and their families in the state. The imposition of hefty penalty and nationalization of apprehended boats must be prevented through diplomatic interventions,” Stalin said. 

The arrest of Indian fishermen from Pudukkottai, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, and Ramanathapuram districts by the Sri Lankan Navy has been a recurring affair in the Palk Strait for the past few decades. 

The fishermen cross the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and step into Sri Lankan waters as the fish catch is abundant on the other side, often landing in trouble as the island’s Navy personnel encircle them in mid-seas, especially when they cross Katchatheevu, an uninhabited island ceded by New Delhi to Colombo in 1974. 

Stalin also told Modi that the Tamil Nadu government proceeded with the work to implement the Phase-II of Chennai Metro rail project after Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for it in November 2020 and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman included it in her 2021-2022 Budget speech. 

“…the progress of the Chennai Metro rail phase-II has slowed down due to fiscal constraints faced by the state government. Last year, due to limited fiscal space, Tamil Nadu had to instruct CMRL to reduce the pace of works and take a budget cut from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 9,000 crore,” he said. The CM also suggested that the state government was implementing the project on its own and nudged the Union Government to grant immediate approval to it. 

Stalin also told Modi that Tamil Nadu is committed to continuing with the two-language formula of Tamil and English and noted that it has been exempted from implementing The Official Languages Act 1963 as mentioned in The Official Languages Rules 1976. He also said non-implementing NEP which favours a three-language formula shouldn’t be used to not release funds under the Central share for SS scheme. 

“While the difference of opinion is over the clauses of the MoU for implementation of a new scheme namely PM SHRI, the stoppage of release of funds of Samagra Shiksha, which is an ongoing scheme, is not acceptable,” Stalin added.