Date:09/09/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/09/09/stories/2004090912920500.htm

Tamil Nadu

Kamaraj first initiated the proposal, says Vasan

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 8. The Congress is also claiming credit for the Sethusamudram project.

The State president, G.K. Vasan, in a press statement here today, said Kamaraj was the first to initiate the proposal in 1955, when he was Chief Minister.

Kamaraj, who had a vision that the project would improve the economy of the southern districts, set up a committee under the chairmanship of the late A. Ramasami Mudaliar. The committee, which saw tremendous potential for the project, recommended its inclusion along with the Tuticorin Port Trust in the Second Five-Year Plan. The project cost was worked out at just Rs. 10 crores then.

Another committee, formed in 1964 with Nagendra Singh as chairman, also recommended that the project be included in the Fourth Five-Year Plan. All political parties in the State demanded implementation of the project in the past. Thanks to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, it would soon become a reality, Mr. Vasan said.