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Jayalalitha calls on PM

After a meeting with President K R Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which lasted 30 minutes each, she told reporters at Rashtrapati Bhavan that action in this regard "has been pending for a long time and I have asked it to be expedited as soon as possible".

She said in a memorandum to Vajpayee that the Centre should request the Sri Lankan government to restore the fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen in and around Katchchitvu island.

With the recent increase in incidents of firing against Tamil Nadu fishermen and fishing boats, she said Vajpayee has been requested to ask the Lankan government to moderate activities of their navy so as to save the innocent lives and property of poor Indian fishing families.

On whether the issue of the Sarkaria Commission report pertaining to former chief minister M Karunanidhi figured at the meeting with Vajpayee, she said, "I can't repeat exactly what I discussed with the prime minister".

To another question that she was being vindictive towards her predecessor, she said, "It is not true that I am taking vindictive action."

To some NDA leaders' criticism of the decision of Tamil Nadu Governor Fatima Beevi in swearing in her as chief minister, Jayalalitha said, "I am not going to react to individual persons who have criticised this action. I have been given a massive mandate by the people of the state and I have to fulfil the hopes and aspirations that they have bestowed on me and the faith reposed in me by them."

On whether she proposed to join the Third Front, she said, "I have not yet given a thought to it."

The left-lef Front had hinted at the possibility of her joining it.

The chief minister said she has sought more funds for the development of Tamil Nadu, including increase in subsidy for tea growers in the Nilgiris from Rs 2 to Rs 10 per kg, which would require Rs 282.12 crore, to be funded by the Centre.

Elaborating on the problem faced by tea growers, she said the situation for tea growers in the Nilgiris had worsened during April 2000 to February 2001, especially with the removal of quantitative restrictions on imports since April 1.

Jayalalitha said Vajpayee was requested that only tea consignments that have 100 per cent Indian tea should be given certificates of origin as "Indian tea" and blends that contain any imported material should not be certified as Indian tea and that such certificates of origin may be issued by the Tea Board.

Jayalalitha said she would seek increased central assistance for modernising the state police force, when she meets Home Minister L K Advani on Wednesday.

She would also be seeking an increased Plan outlay for the state, at her meeting with Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission K C Pant.

The chief minister said she has asked the prime minister to use his good offices with the World Bank for early appraisal and sanction of the Tamil Nadu health system project and the Tamil Nadu women's development project.

She also sought the Centre's approval for sharing the recurring and non-recurring expenditure of the National Institute of Siddha, an Indian system of medicine.

In the memorandum to Vajpayee, the chief minister wanted special consideration to be accorded in establishing the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management at Madras and for early implementation of the Sethusamudram canal project, considering its long-term national implications and the growth needs of the region.

The memorandum sought higher ceiling for market borrowings to make good the loss in central revenues as per the 11th Finance Commission recommendations and additional loans against small savings collections.

It wanted release of arrears due to the state on account of revision of royalty for lignite with retrospective effect.

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