The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Bureaucrats blamed for inordinate delay

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 10, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Bureaucrats blamed for inordinate delay

By Our Staff Reporter

The Union Minister for Shipping, T.R. Baalu, addressing a workshop on international competitiveness of the Indian maritime sector in Madurai on Friday. — Photo: S. James

MADURAI, JULY 9. The Union Shipping Minister, T.R. Baalu, today held bureaucrats responsible for delaying the Sethusamudram project for decades.

With top bureaucrats, including the Shipping Secretary, D.T. Joseph; the Shipping Corporation of India Chairman and Managing Director, P.K. Srivastav, and the Chairman of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Ravi Bhushan Budhiraja, on stage, he said, ``You (the bureaucrats) have been threatening Ministers all these years with professional decisions, forcing them to shelve the much-awaited scheme. But you should know that the Sethusamudram project would emerge a line of defence for the nation's security.''

Besides enhancing port connectivity and boosting foreign exchange, the project would facilitate easy traversing by defence vessels along the international boundary. ``There is a serious concern of security in the area (the Gulf of Mannar) and the Sethusamudram project will address the problem fittingly.''

With the project finding a place in the Union budget, there was a sovereign guarantee that the Centre was keen on implementing it.

``Now the project is all set to take off and contribute to the nation's economy. It will certainly improve the quality of the international maritime sector.''

Mr. Baalu was inaugurating a workshop on `International Competitiveness of Indian Maritime Sector' organised by the Tuticorin Port Trust to mark its silver jubilee celebrations here.Call for strategies

The workshop should focus on perennial issues in the maritime sector and evolve suitable strategies, he said.

``Such workshops should flag off vital issues and pave the way for framing policies. Only by interaction can we identify areas of persistent problems. I understand that there are many shortcomings and we will seek the intervention of the Prime Minister to solve some.''

The Minister said state-of-the-art infrastructure was required to meet the international standards of the shipping industry.

The prospective Golden Quadrilateral and Corridor projects connecting the length and the breadth of the country were halfway through and would benefit 12 major ports and 185 minor ports

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