The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer M.K. Stalin said that the party would prepare its election manifesto based on the inputs collected by him during his tour of the State under the Namakku Naame campaign.
Addressing unemployed youths at Velankanni on Saturday, Mr. Stalin said the objective of his tour was to ascertain the grievances and address the problems of the masses when elected to power.
“Everywhere, all sections of people have their own problems, indicating the laxity on the part of the ruling government,” he said.
The grievances and expectation of the people, including those of farmers, weavers, and fishermen tour would be incorporated in the party election manifesto.
Referring to the Global Investors’ Meet, convened by the State government, Mr. Stalin said as a former Deputy Chief Minister he had looked after the Department of Industries and was fully aware of the steps required to attract global investors. “It takes at least six months for setting up an industry,” he said.
The AIADMK, on coming to power, neglected schemes implemented by the previous DMK government. Unemployment had become rampant under the AIADMK regime. About 85 lakh unemployed youths were on the rolls of the Employment Offices and 50 per cent of them were women, he claimed and alleged that the State government had been dormant leaving all sections of people dissatisfied.
Later, he paid floral tributes to a memorial of tsunami victims at Akkaraipettai in Nagapattinam. He heard the grievances of fisherwomen for a while.
During an interactive session, a cross-section of unemployed youths, particularly women, pleaded for scrapping of the Teacher Eligibility Test and restore the seniority-based recruitment of teachers, if the DMK came to power.
Meets centenarian
A centenarian of Kaundankadu village near Vedaranyam, Gopal, had a pleasant surprise on Saturday when Mr. Stalin spent considerable time interacting with him during the tour in the district and enquired about his well being.
Mr. Gopal, who is said to be 108 years old, is a widower with two daughters and one son besides seven grandchildren. He was elated when Mr. Stalin spent some time with him.
Mr.Gopal proudly told Mr. Stalin that he was fit even now and was an ardent reader of newspapers. He walked a kilometre every morning for a cup of tea in a shop in the village bazaar.
He answered a few queries posed by Mr. Stalin with agility, much to the surprise of the gathering.
Mr. Stalin had expressed his desire to meet Mr. Gopal following a report that appeared in a Tamil daily on Saturday.
