Housing and Urban Development Minister S. Muthusamy on Wednesday told the Assembly that it was former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi who had ensured that the AIADMK government, led by former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, in 1982, successfully launched an engineeing college by the Transport Corporation, now the IRTT in Erode.
Replying to the debate on demand for grants for his department, Mr. Muthusamy, who held the portfolio of transport in the MGR government, said Karunanidhi persuaded the DMK’s Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), which refused to participate, to extend support to the college.
Convincing employees
“There were 72,000 transport employees, and only 18,000 of them had come forward to pay their regular share. When we were facing problems, Kalaignar [Karunanidhi] met me in the Assembly, and asked me to go ahead with my plan. In three hours, office-bearers of the LPF told me that they had been ordered by their leader to extend support,” said Mr. Muthusamy.
Today, engineering and medical colleges of the Transport Corporation are functioning successfully, he said.
