The Irugur unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has urged the district administration to remove an encroachment from a government land on Ponnuramman Temple Road. In a petition submitted at the weekly grievance meeting on Monday, the party’s representative R. Veerasamy said the government land was occupied to provide parking space for customers visiting a bank branch in the area.
Though the party had raised the issue with the village administrative officer concerned and other senior Revenue Department officials, the encroachment was not removed. Therefore, the Collector should intervene to rid the land of the encroachment, Mr. Veerasamy said.
‘Re-open educational institutions’
Members of the Students Federation of India on Monday urged the State government to reopen educational institutions. In a petition submitted to the district administration, the organisation’s district secretary M. Dinesh Raja and president S. Azaruden said the government that had relaxed several of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions was, however, yet to re-open the institutions.
The delay in re-opening had affected students from rural and hill areas, families that belonged to the economically weaker section. Many of them were forced to work as child labourers, it said and claimed that the number of child labourers had increased.
Using the lockdown as an opportunity, the Central Government had started implementing the new education policy, which was detrimental to students’ interests.
The SFI further alleged that there seemed to be an ulterior motive to the Government not re-opening education institutions even as it had permitted re-opening of malls, cinemas , etc. The use of digital medium to impart education during the lockdown had stressed the students and was a betrayal of students from tribal and poor families.
‘Give more compensation’
Tamil Nadu Vivasayeegal Sangam leader S. Palanisamy has said the State government should give up the move to acquire farm lands for widening the Coimbatore-Sathyamangalam National Highway
In a petition submitted to the district administration on Monday, he said that a few years ago, there was a proposal to widen the road but it was given up after marking stones were placed. Now, the farmers’ association was given to understand that there was a proposal before the National Highways for widening the road at ₹1,200 crore.
Of the estimated cost, around ₹ 620 crore was to be spent towards acquiring farm lands in Kurumbapalayam, Annur, Puliampatty, Sathyamangalam and Bannari.
The proposed alignment would affect the farmers, as they would lose land, farm wells and their livelihood.
TNSCB flats
Aditamilar Munnetra Kazhagam has urged the district administration to ensure that all eligible persons in Irugur were given tokens for allotment of flats. In its petition, the organisation said the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board had issued tokens only to 80 of the 180 families that were eligible for the flats. The district administration should ensure that the Board issued tokens and allotted flats to the remaining 100 families.
