Ramadoss welcomes TN Govt's decision on imported cement

Chennai, Jan 2 (UNI) Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder-leader S Ramadoss today welcomed the Tamil Nadu Government's decision to sell imported cement through State-owned Civil Supplies Corporation and announced cancellation of the party's proposed agitation on January 7 on the cement price issue.

In a statement here, he said since the Government had come forward to import cement and make it available to the people at cost price, there was no need for the party to organise the agitation.

The party had announced an agitation against the Government's initial decision to sell imported cement directly to contractors and builders. Now, the Government had decided to sell imported cement directly to the people at cost price through the State Civil Supplies Corporation's 200 godowns.

Referring to the Government's warning that it would have no option but to take over cement companies, if the manufacturers did not come forward to reduce the prices, Dr Ramadoss said that as the cement manufacturers would never come forward to bring down the price, it should not hesitate to nationalise the factories.

As a first step, the Government should insist that all the cement companies should give a portion of their production to the Government for distribution through the Civil Supplies Corporation.

When the Government procured paddy from the farmers to check the price and ensure free availability of rice, it should also procure cement from the manufacturers and keep the prices under check, he said.

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