Fund for SCs diverted to buy TVs: Minister

CHENNAI:  The DMK regime diverted funds earmarked for the welfare of Scheduled Castes to procure television sets for free distribution just before the polls, Minister for Information Technology R B Udhayakumar said in the Assembly on Thursday.In his reply to the debate on the demand for grant to Information Technology department, Udhayakumar said television sets were procured in six stages through the State-owned ELCOT . “With an eye on polls, 10 lakh television sets were bought by paying `436 (for each set) over and above the price of the 5th stage purchase. An additional expenditure of `43.60 crore was incurred. The fund came from the allocations made for the Scheduled Caste welfare,” he said.When AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and D Jayakumar raised the issue in the Assembly during the last regime, the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said he was prepared to face gallows if irregularities were proved in the purchase of televisions.During the previous regime, eight Information Technology parks, besides Special Economic Zones, were set up without any infrastructure facility, Udhayakumar said. “These were just skeletal structures. After Amma assumed office, she instructed us to upgrade all such facilities to attract investments,” he added.The Arasu Cable TV Corporation was being revamped and people would get cable connections at a reasonable price, he added.