Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention over the Metro Rail Proposal for Coimbatore and Madurai districts. In a letter to Modi, Stalin said on Saturday he was ready to meet him, explaining the matter in detail.
Stalin's letter came after the Union House Ministry returned the proposal, citing various discrepancies, which led to the Tamil Nadu government alleging that the Centre discriminates against the state.
Stalin urged Modi to instruct the Housing Ministry to reconsider its decision to reject the proposal. The Chief Minister said that the ministry's decision was inappropriate.
"The criterion of 2 million population, as in the Metro Rail Policy 2017, has been quoted as one of the main reasons for rejection. I wish to highlight that the population of the Coimbatore LPA area had exceeded 2 million way back in 2011 itself, and in the case of Madurai too, the expected population is likely to exceed it now," Stalin said.
Stalin pointed out that if this 2 million criteria had been applied uniformly, many metros in Tier-II cities like Agra, Indore, and Patna may not have materialised.
"The selective application of this criterion to our proposal has created an impression of discrimination against our cities, and the Union Government needs to dispel it by treating our cities on par with the cities mentioned above," the Tamil Nadu chief minister added.
"The Department of Special Initiatives will submit detailed justifications on the issues raised by MoHUA. I urge you to instruct MoHUA to review the decision of returning the proposals. If necessary, I am ready to meet you at New Delhi with my team to explain the issues in detail. Since these two projects involve the aspirations of the industrial and cultural hubs of Tamil Nadu, I look forward to your personal intervention in this issue," he further said in the letter to Modi.
Earlier, Stalin's party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), held massive protests in Coimbatore and Madurai, accusing the Centre of discrimination after the proposal was rejected.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the DMK was politicising the issue, alleging that the Tamil Nadu government submitted an incorrect DPR (Detailed Project Report), which caused confusion.
