Union may move court against minister's remarks

Puducherry, Sept 11 (UNI) The Pontex Workers Union, affiliated to the CITU, is planning to move Madras High Court against Welfare Minister M Kandasamy over his alleged remarks against it.

Addressing a press conference here today, CITU president T Murugan said Mr Kandasamy's statement that clothes supplied by Pontex were of poor quality had adversly affected the sale of handloom clothes manufactured for Deepavali. If this downward trend in sales continued and the clothes could not be sold, the Union would move the court.

Mr Murugan said the Minister's remark that Pontex was purchasing clothes from outside was ''totally baseless and false.'' The minister was at liberty to order an inquiry.

''The Registrar of Cooperative Societies and an IAS officer are in charge of Pontex and without their consent not even a piece of cloth could be purchased from outside. The entire cloth for free distribution is manufactured by Pontex, '' he stressed.

On the statement of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thirumavalavan that Polyester clothes be distributed, instead of clothes from Pontex, Mr Muruan said the BPL people were now getting the same clothes and it was not fair to divide them on the basis of castes.

UNI