TN Minister to urge Centre to extend JNNURM scheme

Madurai, Aug 22 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Local Administration Minister M K Stalin today said he would appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance(UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to include Tiruchirapalli, Salem and Tirunelveli Corporations under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission(JNNURM) scheme.

Laying the foundation stone for the state-of-the-art Rs 22 crore Emergency Treatment Wing of the Government Rajaji Hospital here, he said the JNNURM scheme was earlier implemented only in three corporations in the State at Coimbatore, Madurai and Chennai, among the 63 cities selected across the country under the scheme.

Mr Stalin said Rs 2361 crore had been sanctioned for implementation of the first Phase of the scheme.

He said procurement of Television sets was posing a problem to the Government in the free TV set distribution scheme. The Government, however, planned to procure 30 lakh sets in the third stage, he added.

The minister said Tamil Nadu was the first State to provide reservation for women in Local Bodies, as three out of six corporation mayors in the State were women.

Mr Stalin also laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 42.75 crore.

State Health Minister KKSSR Ramachandran said a Rs 30-core Cancer Centre would be set up here. The Government was also making efforts to establish an All India Institute of Medical Sciences here, he added.

UNI