Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri on Sunday urged the State government to drop its ₹12,000 crore tenders for road widening, building of bridges, flyovers and other projects, and instead use those funds for building health infrastructure to treat COVID-19 patients.

In a statement, he noted that Tamil Nadu ranks number 2 in the country in terms of COVID-19 cases and there is lack of availability of beds and shortage of oxygen cylinders, which is leading to an increase in number of deaths.

Mr. Alagiri said when the State has not yet recovered from the impact of COVID-19 and at a time when State finances are under stress, the question arises as to whether there is a need to float tenders for ₹12,000 crore. The State government’s focus and top priority should be on allocating funds for tackling COVID-19 and to offset the impact on the economy and hardships caused to the people, he said.

Mr. Alagiri said the floating of the tenders at this point of time raises suspicions about the government’s motives and he alleged that environmental guidelines have also been ignored. He said that once normalcy returns, the government can focus on such development projects.