Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday said he would continue to focus on fulfilling the aspirations and expectations of people instead of wasting time answering criticisms levelled at him or his government, without any substance.
At a government function here, he said people and even critics would generally avoid pointing fingers at any ruling party for the first six months, as it was the period to study the ground reality of various aspects of governance before launching programmes and policies.
He said that his government had, however, not taken much time and launched its actions from day one of its office. It had been a remarkable last one year in office as it rose to the occasion of taking forward the agenda of development and implementing welfare schemes. “Recalling the achievements of my government over the last one year, I think I have a sense of fulfillment in serving the people of the State. I feel immensely happy over the services rendered to people. It is a judgment of my consciousness,” Mr. Stalin said.
Without naming anyone, the Chief Minister said a leader had been making use of the media to tarnish the image of the DMK government every day to gain popularity for himself. “I do not want to waste my time and energy answering the criticism as I am busy serving the people. I pity him as he takes on me and the DMK government every day, without much substance. His agenda is to gain publicity,” Mr. Stalin said.
“I believe in the faith reposed on me by the people. I am not a person who makes unilateral decisions. I listen to constructive ideas emerging from cross sections of the society so as to frame policies and programmes for the betterment and welfare of the people,” he said.
Minster for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru, Minister for Electricity V. Senthil Balaji, Minister for Transport S.S. Sivasankar, Collector T. Prabhu Shankar, Member of Parliament S. Jothimani and others participated.
Earlier, Mr. Stalin laid foundation stones for various projects to the tune of ₹581 crore and declared new schemes at an estimate of ₹28.20 crore. He also distributed welfare assistance to beneficiaries at the function.
