Cadre of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have started painting the city red with wall writings to welcome Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who is expected to visit Srirangam soon for inaugurating the Yatri Nivas and other development projects. Painters could be seen working on walls along the Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass Road and other parts of the city, which were whitewashed during the Lok Sabha election. Although the Chief Minister’s scheduled date of visit is yet to be announced, party men are vying with each other to put up welcome messages at vantage points across the city. Some have already put up hoardings welcoming the Chief Minister. District officials, who were looking for a break after hectic election-related works, would have to be on their on their toes yet again making arrangements for official function to be held at Srirangam.
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The monthly farmers’ grievances meetings have come to be dominated by a vocal group of representatives of a handful of farmers associations. The situation was no different at the meeting held recently with a few representatives trying to dominate the proceedings, trying to have their say in a vociferous manner. District Collector Jayashree Muralidharan had to repeatedly pull up some of the members for trying to outshout others and being impatient in listening to the answers provided by the officials. Gandhipithan, a senior farmer’s representative of the Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association, too deprecated the tendency of a few to hog the limelight, often with the intention of attracting media attention.
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It was a happy 'Golden Jubilee' reunion for the 30-odd alumni of the Seshasayee Institute of Technology (SIT), Tiruchi, when they met on the institute premises recently. All of them belonged to the batch that completed the diploma in 1966. A few of them had come with their families from far away places such as Mumbai and Bangalore for participating in the reunion. The old students paid their respects to their teachers by honouring them with shawls and mementos. The alumni donated Rs.50,000 to G.Sundaram-
Anandanarasimhachariar Memorial Fund set up by the management of the institute for providing scholarship to poor students. It took sometime for the applause to die down, when the representatives of the batch informed that the cheque was only the first instalment. The batch mates also paid homage to their teachers and classmates who have passed away.
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The authorities of the Government Arts College, Karur, were faced with a piquant situation when a couple of self financing arts colleges attempted to put up temporary stalls in front of the college on the eve of the commencement of counselling for the undergraduate courses from June 9. A quarrel erupted between the representatives of two self financing colleges in putting up the stalls in front of the main gate, following which the Government Arts College authorities filed a complaint with the District Collector. The government college authorities heaved a sigh of relief when the district authorities in a swift action removed all the stalls of these colleges.
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The Amma Unavagam scheme to be implemented in Pudukottai town has come as a blessing in disguise for the municipal authorities. The civic body has chosen a site at the old bus stand area that has been under encroachment for long. The municipal authorities last week demolished three shops at the site ideally suited for the subsidised food outlet. This is the second phase of eviction taken up by the municipal authorities. Last month, about 25-odd shops on the panchayat union office road near the new bus stand were demolished, giving a facelift to the area. Residents feel that the evicted space should be properly protected to avoid the recurring menace of encroachment.
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( Reporting by S.Ganesan, Syed Muthahar Saqaf, and M.Balaganessin )
