Scores of AIADMK party workers gathered to greet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in Chennai on Monday, flouting physical distancing norms put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus. The AIADMK workers were standing in a long line waving at the Chief Minister’s convoy when he left for Tiruvallur district. Edappadi Palaniswami travelled to Tiruvallur to inaugurate two bridges and a few projects.
On the way to Tiruvallur, the Chief Minister was greeted by party cadres holding AIADMK flags and posters welcoming him. Although most workers were wearing masks, there was little physical distancing between them. A man was seen distributing the AIADMK flags to groups of people while band members were also playing the instruments welcoming the Chief Minister.
Ruling AIADMK cadre violate prohibitory orders & social distancing as hundreds wait for CM EPS in Chennai. Police don't stop but facilitate violations. Chennai police says there was nothing wrong. AIADMK says cadre was told to ensure social distancing. TN tally today 5776@ndtv pic.twitter.com/4EbZRxTsGE
— J Sam Daniel Stalin (@jsamdaniel) September 7, 2020
Another video from Chennai showed the Chief Minister greeting students from the convoy. A group of students taking a video of the convoy thanked EPS for announcing no exams for all engineering students, barring those in final-year.
Edappadi K Palaniswami issued orders on August 26 cancelling exams of all college students, including arrear exams. However, those in final year will have to take the exams. Following this, many publications carried pages of advertisement by students thanking the Chief Minister for the announcement.
Meanwhile, EPS on Tuesday held a meet with the health professionals and doctors at the Secretariat in Chennai. The Chief Minister said, “If people have fever or headache, I am hearing that they are unable to receive treatment from the hospital. To help those people, we are planning to set up 2,000 mini-clinics.”
Stating that there are chances for infection while using public transportation, he said, “We need more bed facilities, additional doctors and nurses. They have informed me that there are vacancies so the government will take efforts to fill the vacancies and appoint nurses.”
“The government will not allow even one loss of life. We do not care about the expenditure saving the lives of people is the responsibility of human beings,” he added.