Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan has charged the Jayalalithaa government with acting as a stumbling block in the implementation of the Central government-sponsored welfare schemes.
Mr. Vasan was campaigning in support of Congress candidates K.S. Alagiri (for Cuddalore) and K. Vallalperuman (for Chidambaram) at Vadalur, near here, on Saturday.
He said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the flagship programme of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, had vastly improved employment opportunities in villages and helped to boost the rural economy.
Under the scheme, the government recently enhanced the daily wages from Rs. 148 to Rs. 168 a person. But the ruling AIADMK was not disbursing the full wages to beneficiaries. The DMK and the AIADMK, which had been ruling the State alternately for the past 47 years, had never thought of any future plan for the development of the State.
Mr. Vasan dwelt on the achievements of the government of the former Chief Minister, K. Kamaraj. He opened schools in every village to boost literacy. But the present government was only keen on opening Tasmac outlets in every village, adding to the misery of villagers.
Over 15 crore students nationwide had benefited from the mid-day meal scheme started by Kamaraj. With foresight, Kamaraj drafted plans for building dams to augment farm production and meet electricity requirements.
But the present-day rulers were converting all vacant lands into plots.
He alleged that the State government had not done anything to ameliorate poverty. The State was now facing an acute water and power shortage.
Mr. Vasan said the BJP was projecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. He cautioned that if the BJP came to power, the scheme guarantee scheme would be scrapped, and religious bigotry would mar the peace of the country.
The Congress was the only party with an inclusive policy, reflecting the views of all sections of society.
