File Photo: AIADMK Chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will not be attending today's meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Since the deliberations are to be attended only by Chief Ministers, the state Finance and Public Works Minister O Panneerselvam, whom she had intended to send for the meeting, will also not participate, the AIADMK chief said in a letter to the Prime Minister today.
"....As I am engaged with other pressing official work, which I have been unable to reschedule, I will not be able to attend the meeting on 15th July, 2015.
"I had intended to depute a senior member of my Cabinet, O Panneerselvam, Minister for Finance and Public Works, to attend the meeting along with the Principal Secretary, Planning & Development, and the Commissioner of Land Administration.
"However, we have been informed late last evening by the Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog, that the meeting to deliberate on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, can be attended only by the Chief Minister and nobody else can deputise.
"In these circumstances, I am sending my printed speech conveying the views of the Government of Tamil Nadu on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which may be taken on record," she said.
Ms Jayalalithaa said she hoped that the views of the Tamil Nadu government will be given due consideration by the Centre.