TN minister slams Kamal Haasan for flaying relief measures

Taking strong exception to film star Kamal Haasan's reported criticism of ruling AIADMK's flood relief activities, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O Panneerselvam today charged the actor with becoming a 'puppet' of those who tried to gain political mileage in such situations.
In a strongly-worded statement, Panneerselvam, considered Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's 'Man Friday', also explained to the actor the government's spending in social sectors and disaster management and advised him to go through the budget "by allocating time in between his movie shootings".
Panneerselvam's retort comes in the wake of the actor's reported criticism in a section of media, where he had purportedly said the "system has collapsed" and that he was making donations since the government had asked him and reportedly expressed his displeasure over it.

"In an extraordinary situation where Chennai had received over 40 cm of rainfall in a single day resulting in flooding, instead of being supportive of the Amma (Jayalalithaa) government, he has made wrong statement which is above his qualification," Panneerselvam said.
The actor was 'confused' and had 'blabbered' unaware of the ground reality, he said.
Explaining government's relief measures, he said though the state was returning to normalcy after rains in earlier part of November, it once again struggled as it received rain in excess of 40 cm last week, a record after 1918.

"In a film produced by him, he may set right natural disaster in just one scene or a song. But reality is different. Normalcy can be restored only with proper planning and over a period of time which Amma (Jayalalithaa) is doing expeditiously," Panneerselvam said.

"If he wants to know about natural disaster, he should once again watch his movie Anbe Sivam," he said.
The movie, also starring R Madhavan, deals with the trials and tribulations of two protagonists stuck in a deluge.
On Jayalalithaa's instructions, over 40,000 government staff were involved in flood relief, 300 boats employed while some 12 lakh affected persons had been rescued and lodged in camps. So far, some 55 lakh food packets have been distributed and over 23,000 medical camps held, he said.
"In such a situation, saying that the entire system has collapsed, is not only contrary to facts, but also amounts to insulting the people of Tamil Nadu," he said.

He also lambasted the actor for questioning what happened to the taxpayer's money as government solicited contributions.
"His statement shows that he has become a puppet of people who eye political mileage in such a situation," he said, referring to a Tamil saying which means grabbing available valuables from a burning house.