Rajendra balaji
Trade fair opens business avenue after 12 years
Features 21 stalls by government departments and agencies
trying out:Minister for Information and Special Programme Implementation K.T.Rajendra Balaji inspecting a stall put up at the government trade fair in the city on Thursday. —PHOTO:R.M. RAJARATHINAM
A 45-day government trade fair, organised by Department of Information and Public Relations, got underway at the St.John's Vestry Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School grounds in the city on Thursday.
The exhibition features 21 stalls by government departments and agencies, highlighting various government schemes and achievements. Ten stalls by private traders and amusement enclosures for children also form part of the exhibition.
Declaring open the fair, K.T.Rajendra Balaji, Minister for Information and Special Programme Implementation, said the government trade fair is being organised in the city after a gap of about 12 years.
Apart from highlighting the government schemes, they were also a leisure and entertainment avenue for people. The fair also served as a platform for showcasing traditional art forms and the culture of the State.
Gold coins distributed
The Minister, who distributed gold coins and marriage assistance to about 490 women under the marriage assistance scheme, affirmed that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was committed to put the State on the forefront of development in the country.
P.Shankar, Director, Information and Public Relations, said the government trade fairs, a regular event some years back but suspended over the past few years, have been revived now.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has ordered that similar fairs should be organised in all the panchayat unions in the State.
The fairs would be organised in 97 panchayat unions in the first phase soon. The government has also increased the quantum of fund sanctioned for the annual multi-media exhibitions, he said.
Collector Jayashree Muralidharan said the fair would help sensitise people to the various welfare and development schemes implemented by the government.
P.Kumar, MP, M.Paranjothi, N.R.Sivapathi, R.Manoharan, T.P.Poonatchi, and Indira Gandhi, MLAs, A.Jaya, Mayor, and G.Thanappan, Deputy Director, Information and Public Relations, spoke.
Though the opening of the trade fair was deferred by three days to give time for the organisers to complete the arrangements, many of the stalls being put up by government departments and traders remained incomplete on Thursday. Work was still underway and the stalls were expected to be ready within a day or two.
Sivakasi students get cycles and laptops
"Government keen to help weaker sections"
Helping hand: Information Minister K.T. Rajendra Balaji presenting a milch animal to a beneficiary in Sivakasi on Sunday. Collector M. Balaji (left) is seen.
The State government presented cycles and laptops to 702 students with the sole intention that it would lessen the burden of the parents hailing from the economically weaker sections and facilitate improvement in the academic performance of the students.
Speaking on the occasion, Information and special programmes implementation, Minister K.T. Rajendra Balaji said on Sunday at Sivakasi that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa accorded top priority to education and was keen on providing all basic infrastructural facilities to the school students.
Like the children in urban locations, those living in remote and isolated rural pockets too should feel comfortable and exposed to gadgets like laptops, which would give a fillip and help them in academic performance. In an information era, one segment of student community should not feel they were lagging behind in learning the nuances of computer, he said.
The minister also said that the scheme to present cycles to students was started by the Chief Minister as early as 2001, during her earlier regime. A total of 20,898 students would be benefitted in Virudhunagar district alone in getting cycles, valued at Rs six crore, he added.
Collector M. Balaji presided. Students from Sivakasi Hindu Nadar Victoria Higher Secondary School, Vilampatti A.V. Marimuthu Nadar School, Sivakasi Velankanni Madha HSS and Sivakasi Rathnavilas HSS received the cycles from the minister, valued at Rs 20.90 lakh. District Revenue Officer C.A. Raman welcomed the gathering. CEO Sasikala proposed a vote of thanks, a press release said.
Milch animals
In another function, the minister gave away milch animals – cattle and goats – to beneficiaries from Sattur, Sivakasi and Aruppukottai Assembly segments all worth around Rs 36 lakh. This would help the beneficiaries, who are selected from below poverty category, improve their economic status. The BPL category population should not feel they are let down in the society and keeping this in mind, the Chief Minister had devised such a welfare scheme. Hence, Mr. Rajendra Balaji urged the beneficiaries not to sit back, but work and earn their living through the income from the cattle and goat. The government has played the role of a catalyst and the masses should try to elevate their position, he added.
He also outlined the welfare schemes such as gold for marriage (thalikku thangam), food mixer, fan and grinder for the poorer sections of the society. He urged the beneficiaries to make use of these commodities in the right perspective and improve their standards of living. Sattur MLA Udayakumar, Vaigaiselvan (Arupukottai) were among others who spoke.
District Revenue Officer C.A. Raman welcomed the gathering. Animal Husbandry Joint Director Jayaraman proposed a vote of thanks. District Panchayat council chairperson Vasantha Alagarsami and among others participated.
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