VCK slams SC nod for oxygen production at Sterlite plant
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan on Tuesday mentioned the Supreme Court verdict allowing production of medical oxygen at Vedanta’s sealed Sterlite Copper plant was in opposition to the curiosity and welfare of Tamils.
Speaking to reporters in Villupuram, Mr. Thirumavalavan mentioned State authorities had additionally didn’t undertaking its precise requirement of medical oxygen earlier than the apex court docket. All the small print the federal government had furnished to the Centre weren’t positioned earlier than the Supreme Court, he mentioned.
“The Centre on the one hand was claiming that there was no shortage of oxygen as it had sufficient stock. Then why did it come forward for the production of oxygen in the closed Sterlite plant? This must be properly explained to the people,” he mentioned. Mr. Thirumavalavan mentioned the State authorities had been contending that its requirement was 450 MT of oxygen whereas the production was 400 MT, leading to scarcity of fifty MT.
The authorities convened the all-party assembly in a hurried method solely to make sure that the DMK was additionally made a celebration to the choice, he charged.
The Supreme Court had additionally introduced that the Centre would represent a committee to watch the entire production course of. This was disappointing because the committee members can be nominated by the Centre, he mentioned.
“The production of oxygen could have been entrusted to major Public Sector Undertakings including NLC India Ltd. and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited.
“Further Vedanta had its plants in several parts of the country. But why did the company prefer Tamil Nadu for producing oxygen in a factory that has remained closed. The discrepancies in the approach have exposed the inner motive of the Centre and the State government,” he mentioned.
The Centre was planning to divert the oxygen from the State to the Central pool. The State authorities had additionally remained mum with out elevating its voice, he charged.
So this was going to trigger immense hardship to the folks and the State, he added. Villupuram MP D. Ravikumar was current at the convention. Meanwhile, at a press meet in Chennai, the VCK chief mentioned the Union authorities ought to present vaccines free for all and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take duty for the deaths resulting from scarcity of oxygen, medicines and lack of medical infrastructure.
“Free vaccines should be available to all and Union government should ensure it. The cost of vaccines makes it inaccessible to the poor and selling it at differential price are the reason why more people are not coming forward to vaccinate themselves,” he mentioned. Mr. Thirumavalavan charged that Union authorities had paved the best way for pharma firms to earn ‘massive profits’ by creating a synthetic scarcity and demanded that steps be taken to make sure vaccines value the identical throughout India. He mentioned transporting oxygen by cylinders and automobiles was the issue and demanded that Tamil Nadu be prioritised for the oxygen produced in Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi.