'Very responsible govt;announcements only after Fin Secy nod'

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today said that her's was a "very responsible government" and that it had come up with announcements for new schemes only after getting the nod of the Finance Secretary.
Intervening when DMK Deputy Leader Duraimurugan sought some clarification in the assembly over financial backing for the announcements, she also took a dig at the opposition party, saying "we don't come up with random" assurances.
"We are a very responsible government; don't end up making random announcements. We don't promise two-and-a-half acres of land" and then not implement it properly, she said in an apparent reference to the earlier DMK government's promise of free land for the landless.

While a lot of thought goes into the feasibility of a project, Jayalalithaa said she consults a "100 times" before making announcements about schemes.
"I want to clarify that before announcing new schemes, I hold discussions with the Finance Secretary. Only after the Finance Secretary says there are funds available and approves the schemes do I announce them here," she said.
The Chief Minister, who recalled she had made a number of announcements on various sectors under Rule 110 of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, said there would be adequate funding for all of them.

When DMK sought to know why she was making new announcements for a particular department though the Minister concerned would have already made some others earlier, she said sometimes the ideas come later.

However, Durai Murugan wanted to raise some more points which Speaker P Dhanapal did not heed to. Subsequently, the DMK staged a walk-out.
Earlier, Jayalalithaa intervened when DMK member Vagai Chandrasekar, also an actor, raised the issue of shifting a statue of thespian Sivaji Ganesan from its present location on Kamarajar Salai, saying only the court has given such a direction and "that (of shifting the statue) is not the desire of this government."
The Madras High Court had passed an order in 2014, asking the government to remove the statue, saying motorists did not get a clear vision of vehicles at the junction.

Jayalalithaa recalled her earlier announcement of erecting a memorial for the actor, where the statue will be installed.
Responding to Chandrasekar, she also said that the state government award function for the cinema industry "could not be held for many reasons" in the last few years but assured to hold a "grand event" soon.