Unnecessary info on NPR being spread; don''t fear CAA: TN CM

Coimbatore, Feb 24 (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday asserted that minorities need not fear

the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR).

Talking to reporters at the airport here, Palaniswami said the government has made its stand clear on the fear being

expressed by a section of the minorities. Some were unnecessarily trying to create fear among

the Muslims on the National Population Register, and wanted to blame the government by spreading false information, he said

adding that minorities would not be affected by the CAA or the NPR in Tamil Nadu.

He said the National Citizens Register (NCR) and NPR were taken once in 10 years and it was DMK which started the

NPR in the state in 2011. On increasing debts, the chief minister attributed it

to the spending on various developmental works and joined issue with DMK president M K Stalin who had said there were

lesser debts during the DMK regime. Palaniswami said prices of essential commodities

during the AIADMK regime were much more higher than they were during the DMK period and accordingly the debt on the

exchequer had also increased. Has the DMK released a white paper on Rs one lakh

crore debt, he asked and said that the present government was paying interest to the debts created by DMK.

The chief minister came down heavily on DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi on his recent comments on

media, Dalits and also on temples and priests. Stating that former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's

birth anniversary has been announced as Girl Child Protection Day, he said that according to the National Crime Record

Bureau, Chennai and Coimbatore were considered as the most safest cities where women can walk freely without fear during

night as CCTVs were installed across the cities. PTI NVM

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