DMK boycotts Assembly after arguing with Guv, govt assures COVID-19 vaccine for all

Citizens will very soon be able to access thegovernment from the comfort of their homes by calling theChief Minister helpline at 1100. Like the last September session, the House assembled atKalaivanar auditorium here to ensure more space as part ofmeasures to tackle the pandemic and the Assembly building inthe Fort St George premises was not used.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly session, afew months ahead of state elections, commenced on Tuesday withthe main opposition DMK arguing with Governor BanwarilalPurohit before his customary address to the House, andboycotting the proceedings.

As opposition benches went vacant after leader ofopposition M K Stalin walked out of the House with members ofalliance parties following suit, Purohit began his speech.

He outlined the action on tackling the COVID-19 pandemicincluding vaccination, cash assistance to people duringlockdown, financial aid to farmers hit by recent cyclones, andthe economic front.

Also, Purohit urged the Centre to reject the Mekedatuproject proposal of Karnataka and not allow Kerala to buildany new dam across River Periyar.

He condemned a recent 'incident' in which four fishermenlost their lives when a Sri Lankan naval vessel deliberatelycollided with their boat.

The government continued to take proactive measures tobring back 12 fishermen in Lankan custody, he said.

The vaccination drive against coronavirus has been rolledout smoothly in the state and in due course the entirepopulation would be covered so that normal social and economicactivity can be fully resumed, he said.

The vaccination programme was being rolled out in phaseswith health workers now being covered and in subsequentstages, other frontline workers and the most vulnerable wouldbe administered the vaccines, he said.

Appreciating the significant role of police in tacklingthe pandemic and enforcing the lockdown, he said, ''the policemachinery in the state is fully geared to face all challenges,including the orderly conduct of elections to the legislativeassembly.'' Assembly elections are likely in April or early Mayin Tamil Nadu.

Earlier, before the Governor could start his address,Stalin tried to raise some issues.

Purohit said the Central budget has allocated Rs 1.03lakh crore for Tamil Nadu and wanted the main opposition toto take advantage of the session, the last of the current 15thassembly to debate over all issues.

A din ensued, with DMK Deputy leader Duraimurugan andother opposition members joining Stalin, who objected toPurohit making a mention of the union budget allocation andwanted him to stick to his address.

Purohit said DMK may register its protest if it chose todo so, but suggested that its members could 'come back again'to the House.

Members of Congress, ally of the DMK, sported a greenheadgear -in support of agitating farmers outside Delhi- andthey too boycotted the Governor's address.

Stalin told reporters outside the House that his partytook a decision to boycott not only the Governor's address butalso the entire session.

Purohit did not act on his party's petition against ChiefMinister K Palaniswami and his Cabinet colleagues overcorruption allegations, he said.

Also, he had put on backburner a recommendation by theCabinet to free all the seven Rajiv Gandhi assassination caseconvicts, the DMK chief said. The boycott decision was takenin view of such aspects, he added.

Purohit said the state attracted an 'unprecedented' Rs60,674 crore worth of investment and Tamil Nadu received thehighest of share of investment proposals, 16 per cent in Indiaduring April-September 2020 according to a report.

On cyclones Nivar and Burevi last year, he said themeasures taken by the government ensured that the loss oflives and damage to property were minimised.

''A total of Rs 1,715 crore is being disbursed directly tothe bank accounts of 16.78 lakh farmers affected by the twocyclones and unseasonal rains in January.'' The government incurred a total expenditure of Rs 13,208crore so far on COVID-19 relief and response measures from itsown resources and despite the slowdown in economic growth dueto the pandemic, the fiscal situation has been managed deftly.

As part of COVID relief, 19.95 lakh tonnes of additionalfree rice was supplied to all ration card holders.

Between April-July 2020, commodities -dhal, cooking oiland sugar- were disbursed free of cost to the people and thegovernment bore an additional subsidy burden of Rs 5,402 crorefor these measures.

The government's action on recommendations of a highlevel panel led by former RBI governor C Rangarajan is havinga favourable impact on economic growth. ''We are already seeingstrong signs of revival in economy.'' ''It is a matter of satisfaction that the error thatoccured in 2017-18 in the IGST allocation between the Centreand the states has been rectified and this year, Tamil Naduhas finally received its dues of Rs. 4,321 crore.'' He lauded Chief Minister K Palaniswami for 7.5 per centreservation for government school students who cleared theNational Eligibility cum Entrance Test which has benefited 435students this year, for the 2,000 Amma Mini Clinics andcyclone relief work.

He commended Palaniswami, the government and frontlineworkers in combating the pandemic.

Also, he said a new Integrated and Inclusive PublicGrievance, Chief Minister Helpline Management System was beingestablished which would integrate all the existing grievanceredressal systems through the CM Call Centre helpline.

''With a robust routing mechanism and a dashboard forfollowup, time bound redressal of all grievances will beensured. Citizens will very soon be able to access thegovernment from the comfort of their homes by calling theChief Minister helpline at 1100.'' Like the last September session, the House assembled at'Kalaivanar' auditorium here to ensure more space as part ofmeasures to tackle the pandemic and the Assembly building inthe Fort St George premises was not used.