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Tamil Nadu News Papers

CAG report slams TN government departments

Friday, 24 July 2009 09:22
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The New Indian Express 24.07.2009

CAG report slams TN government departments

CHENNAI: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India report slammed various departments in Tamil Nadu government for non-performance and highlighted irregularities in their functioning.

Releasing the report, the principal accountant general Shankar Narayan pointed out several anomalies in various departments and also in sales tax levies, taxes on vehicles, stamp duty and registration fee and other tax and non-tax receipts.

“Test checks of the records relating to sales tax, state excise, land revenue, urban land tax, taxes on vehicles and departmental offices conducted during 2007-08 revealed under-assessments, short levy, loss of revenue and other observations amounting to Rs 760.93 crore in 2,167 cases,” he said.

In three assessment circles, incorrect exemption of local and inter-state sales of matches worth Rs 117.50 crore resulted in non-levy of tax of Rs 12.69 crore, the CAG report said.

It also hit out at the stamp duty and registeration fees department. Computerisation of the Registeration department has not been fully completed though started in 2001. “Lack of interconnectivity of the sub-registrar offices with the concerned taluk offices resulted in continued registration of the government lands in the name of private individuals,” the report said.

“Incorrect grant of exemption on sale of land by 100 members to four housing societies resulted in non-realisation of stamp duty worth Rs 3.13 crore,” it said.

“In 12 registeration offices, in 23 sale deeds and four lease deeds, due to omission to include the value of the windmills in the instruments, there was undervaluation of properties resulting in short levy of stamp duty and registeration fees of Rs 12.96 crore,” the report added.

The report also slammed Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited for failing to submit mining plans for approval of director, geology and mining within the timeframe leading to rejection and consequent non-removal of the produced granite blocks.

“The company sold granite blocks below cost of production and suffered a loss of Rs 10.69 crore both in departmentally operated quarries and quarries operated through Raising and Raising-cum-Sales Agents.

It said Tamil Nadu Cements Corporation accumulated loss of Rs 45.86 crore as on March 2008, which had eroded its paid up capital of Rs 37.42 crore.

 

CM’s house to be turned into a free hospital

Friday, 24 July 2009 06:18
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Times of India 24.07.2009
CM’s house to be turned into a free hospital
CHENNAI: In a grand gesture, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday announced that he would donate his house in the centre of Chennai to run a free hospital for the poor after his and his wife’s lifetime. The elegant two-storeyed mansion on 4th Street, Gopalapuram — which the CM described as a “street house” — has been his residence for over four decades. “I have the consent of my wife and children for this (donating),” Karunanidhi said.

At a function organised to roll out the Rs 517-crore state health insurance scheme, the Kalaignar Insurance Scheme for life-saving treatment for one crore poor families, the CM said the house would be entrusted either with the state government or the Kalaignar Charitable Trust to run a hospital in the name of his parents Anjugam and Muthuvel.

The market value of the house, registered in the names of his children in 1968, is said to be Rs 8 crore.

Karunanidhi’s decision to give away his property to charity recalled similar gestures in the past by other Dravidian leaders. Periyar E V Ramasamy bequeathed his houses and properties in Erode and Chennai to a trust to propagate his ideals. MGR left a portion of his estate in Ramavaram to run a school and home for the deaf and speech-impaired.

Delivering an emotional speech, the CM said: “All those who are in politics in the state are aware that there is not even sufficient space in my house for local visitors and foreign dignitaries...”

He said it was the only property he had acquired after he became the chief minister, apart from a 14-acre plot in Kattur near Tiruvarur. “I may be the only chief minister in India not owning a bungalow but living in a street house. In the past when I was the CM, I did not approve of the idea of shifting to a big government bungalow,” he said.

Some alterations have been made to the nearly 50-year-old structure over the years. Some of its features now bear an Art Deco look. An elevator was installed inside some years ago after Karunanidhi’s knees began troubling him.

The Gopal-apuram house is where four of his children including Stalin and Azhagiri grew up. They continued living there with their families even after marriage. They have moved out into their own homes over the last two decades.
Last Updated on Friday, 24 July 2009 06:30
 

Corporation roadside parks in dire need of rejuvenation

Friday, 24 July 2009 04:13
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The Hindu 24.07.2009

Corporation roadside parks in dire need of rejuvenation

Deepa H Ramakrishnan

Some of them are encroached upon or used by petty shops

— Photo: K.V.Srinivasan

left high and dry: A roadside park near the Madras High Court campus is one of those that need better care.

CHENNAI: Devoid of full greenery and littered with rubbish, several roadside parks in the city are in a bad shape. They are either encroached upon by the homeless or used by petty shops, or serve as storage space for locals.

Nearly 400 such facilities, most of which were developed in the last two years, are being maintained by the Chennai Corporation.

Parks on Thyagappa Street in Kilpauk, Frazer Bridge Road, near Madras High Court campus, Broadway, G.M. Petta Road in Royapuram, West Kalmandapam and Grace Garden 5th Lane are an eye-sore. Some of them are used to dry clothes. In several places, portions of the retaining walls have been damaged and tiles and iron grills missing.

S. Meena, councillor of ward 16, said that the facilities were in a pitiable condition as there was no separate maintenance wing team for the roadside parks.

“The maintenance responsibility is with the respective zones and as they have other pressing work to do, these are neglected,” she said.

A senior official of the Chennai Corporation said that these facilities were initially created to protect small pieces of property belonging to the civic body. They serve as lung space in localities where there are not many trees.

“The maintenance is with the respective zonal office. As the summer has been rather harsh this year, many plants have withered. We are now waiting for the rain so that fresh saplings can be planted. The rain will make the soil easier to dig and also cool it down,” he said.

Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said, “With the demand for footpaths increasing, several organisations that are concerned about pedestrian space have expressed dissatisfaction over such parks. In places where the facilities are obstructing free movement of pedestrians, we will be converting the parks into footpaths. Saplings are not being planted in many of those parks.”

Last Updated on Friday, 24 July 2009 04:35
 
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