AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam on Friday urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to bring out a White Paper on the scheme for distribution of Pongal gift hampers.
Accusing the government of having wasted ₹1,250 crore, he raised several questions, in a statement, over the manner in which the scheme was implemented.
“From whom have the items been procured? Was any one item procured from two or three firms? Did firms based in Tamil Nadu take part in the tender? If so, which were those firms? What price did they quote? Were the particulars of quality and weight mentioned in the bids? Were the items tested for the weight and quality? Was action initiated against those who had supplied poor quality items? How much money has been paid to the contractors? How much more remains to be paid,” he asked.
The AIADMK leader said the items were not “at all useful”, whereas those given away by the AIADMK government were useful. In a separate statement, AIADMK organisation secretary D. Jayakumar said the DMK government had not acted against the wrongdoers despite a large number of complaints.
Mr. Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami, in a joint statement, called for applications from aspirants for nomination in the elections to the urban local bodies.
