NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, SEP 14
The three-day monsoon session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly commenced on Monday at the Kalaivanar auditorium here, amidst demand by the opposition DMK for a ban on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET) in the state.
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The session was held at the auditorium and not Fort St.George as is the practice, due to the coronavirus pandemic with the former offering more space to follow social distancing.
On the first day of the session, obituary references were made to former President Pranab Mukherjee, DMK MLA J Anbazhagan who died of Covid-19 and all those in the state who succumbed to coronavirus.
The opposition DMK led by party President M K Stalin turned up wearing face masks containing the bilingual slogans “Ban NEET, Save TN Students”.
Ahead of the session, Speaker P Dhanapal, Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam, Stalin and all the members underwent COVID-19 test.
On Monday, the House condoled the deaths of Pranab Mukherjee, Congress MP H Vasantha Kumar, who resigned as Nanguneri MLA to successfully contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Kanyakumari, Anbazhagan and those who had lost their lives due to coronavirus.
Dhanapal later adjourned the House for the day after the members paid homage to the departed and passed a condolence resolution.
Later, speaking to reporters outside the auditorium, Stalin said he had sought the Speaker to include the names of the NEET aspirants in Tamil Nadu who had committed suicide, in the Assembly condolence resolution.
“I had put forth this demand before the resolution was taken up by the house. But he (Speaker) declined. This is not only regrettable but also condemnable,” Stalin said, while pointing out the aspirants allegedly committed suicide due to fear of the exam.
As many as four medical aspirants from Madurai, Ariyalur, Dharmapuri and Namakkal districts allegedly committed suicide last week, with their deaths sending shock waves across the state.
The leader of the opposition also claimed that the Assembly business advisory committee refused to pay heed to the party”s suggestion for an extended session to discuss crucial issues like NEET and the Centre’s draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 notification.
Stalin said the DMK’s demand for holding the session for a longer duration to discuss the people’s issues was not accepted by the Speaker. “I and my party MLAs have given about 15 to 20 notices seeking special call attention motion to discuss key issues. I wonder if these could be taken up in the next two days,” Stalin told reporters. He said the party will raise all key issues including National Education Policy, NEET, the move to evict government employees, journalists from the structurally strong Peters Colony etc. According to sources, the leader of the opposition M.K. Stalin also given a calling attention motion regarding the government’s ill-conceived plan to evict peacefully living families of government employees from Peters Colony for constructing a shopping complex amid Covid-19 pandemic.
The venue for Tamil Nadu Assembly session has been shifted after a gap of 10 years. In 2010, the session was held in the New Assembly hall constructed in Omandurar government estate during the previous DMK regime. However, when the AIADMK came to power in 2011, the Assembly hall was shifted to Fort St George again. Since the Assembly hall at Fort St George could not accommodate all members’ physical distance to avoid Corona infection, the venue has now been shifted to Kalaivanar Arangam.
The State Public Works Department has replicated everything in the Assembly hall in Fort St George at the Kalaivanar Arangam. The century-old Speaker’s Chair donated by Lord Willingdon, Governor of Madras Presidency in 1922 which has been used by many Speakers has been brought to Kalaivanar Arangam for the session. However, the original portraits of the late leaders were not shifted. Instead, their replicas of the portraits have been placed at the venue.
