CHENNAI: Finance Minister N Marie Wilson on Tuesday urged youth, especially Gen Z, to banish suicidal thoughts and seek help when they are going through difficult phases in life.

Replying to the debate on the demands for grants for the Finance, Planning, Development, Pension and Other Retirement Benefits departments in the Assembly, Marie Wilson spoke about the ups and downs he had faced in life and recalled that he had once even considered bequeathing his property to the church.

He appealed to young people to remove thoughts of suicide from their minds. "There have been leaders such as Kalaignar, MGR and Jayalalithaa. No leader has committed suicide. Similarly, there should be no place for suicidal thoughts in our minds," he said.

Wilson said he had been undertaking a 27-year-long pilgrimage on foot to the Velankanni shrine and that he had never received a reception comparable to the one he received this year.

He also flagged the poor water quality in Devanur village near Tharangambadi in Mayiladuthurai district and urged the Rural Development and Water Resources Minister, N Anand, to take immediate steps to rectify the problem.

Meanwhile, he claimed that he hailed from a family that has been deeply involved in politics. "The right person should be in the right place. In that sense, Tamil Nadu has got CM Joseph Vijay," he said, hailing the TVK chief.