“The lotteries were banned in 2003 (by the previous AIADMK government) but sold secretly. However, they are being openly sold in massive quantities these last two years. Ganja and other drugs are freely available and the way newspapers are printing Ketamine seizures every other day, we may even end up having door deliveries of this banned drug,” the PMK chief said, launching perhaps his most fierce assault on the government of his ally.
He said the ganja packets he exhibited at the press conference had been picked up by his party members close to a school in Ice House — which is barely a couple of km from Chepauk, chief minister’s assembly constituency. Dr Ramadoss demanded that all those selling lotteries and drugs should be arrested under the Goondas Act, so too those “helping them from behind.” In some places, he said, such illegal activities were taking place under police patronage and in some other places, politicians were involved. The chief minister should direct the police to take immediate action to stop all this since addiction to alcohol and lotteries had ruined rural economy.
Expressing concern over what he described as ‘disparity’ between Tamil and English medium students, Dr Ramadoss said the latter cornered a lion’s share of seats in the professional courses, though they constituted only 25 per cent of the total number of students who passed the Plus Two examinations. This trend has reduced the Tamil medium students to ‘second grade’ which does not augur well for society, said the PMK chief.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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