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Over two years after the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, the state government has set the date for a public hearing on converting the late leader’s home into a memorial.
According to a report in The Times of India, the Tamil Nadu government has called for a public hearing on 2 January 2019. To be held at the corporation community hall in Chockalingam Nagar, Teynampet, the hearing comes weeks after a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) reportedly gave its nod.
According to the newspaper, the SIA has been conducted by the Madras School of Social Work (MSSW) and its report has been displayed in public at the office of the Chennai district collector.
This was soon echoed by AIADMK leaders, while Jayalalithaa’s nephew and niece, Deepak and Deepa, who have claimed ownership of her properties, have objected to it.
Sasikala Natarajan had been residing at the property following the death of Jayalalithaa. With her imprisonment at the Parappana Agrahara jail in Bengaluru in the Disproportionate Assets case, calls for converting the residence into a memorial grew louder.
However, residents of the Poes Garden area have voiced strong opposition to the move. At the first public hearing conducted by the MSSW in Teynampet, the residents said that the move will risk their safety, especially of the children and women, with people from across the state coming to the neighbourhood to visit the memorial and vendors setting up shops. Social activist Traffic Ramaswamy too, had moved the court seeking that public funds not be used for the acquisition.
Number 81, Veda Nilayam, Poes Garden was bought by Jayalalithaa and her mother Sandhya in 1967. The property is spread over 24,000 square feet and is considered a prime real estate in the city.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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