False propaganda is being unfold branding AIADMK as anti-minorities, says EPS

Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK basic secretary Edappadi Ok. Palaniswami on Thursday alleged {that a} false propaganda was being unfold amongst minorities that the AIADMK had all the time acted in opposition to their welfare.

Addressing a public gathering in Vellore as a part of his State-wide tour, Mr. Palaniswami mentioned minorities had been being made to imagine that they might be unsafe below an AIADMK regime. “This is just not true. During its 31 years of [cumulative] rule because the days of former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, the AIADMK has all the time protected the curiosity of minorities and marginalised sections of society. They [minorities] mustn’t imagine the false propaganda,” he mentioned.

Mr. Palaniswami listed a number of welfare measures taken by him and former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the welfare of minorities. Under the Jayalalithaa regime, an initiative to distribute free rice to mosques for making nombu kanji (gruel) throughout the month of Ramzan was launched in 2011, with an allocation of 5,400 tonnes, he mentioned. “When the Centre stopped extending the grant of ₹6 crore for Haj pilgrims from Tamil Nadu in 2018, the then AIADMK authorities led by me offered the grant, and even elevated it to ₹12 crore in 2021. A everlasting lodging for Haj pilgrims was in-built Chennai at a value of ₹15 crore throughout AIADMK rule,” he mentioned.

In 2015, the then Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, secured round 2.4 lakh crore in international direct funding, and signed 98 agreements with multinational firms (MNCs) to offer job alternatives for unemployed educated youth within the State, he mentioned.

“Following in her footsteps, a worldwide buyers’ meet was organised in Chennai after I was Chief Minister in 2019. I signed 304 agreements with MNCs to get them to arrange models and supply jobs within the State. The fruits of our labour are being reaped by the ruling DMK because the youth are getting jobs in these MNCs,” he added.