‘Social justice survey’ in Tamil Nadu after 2027 Census: Guv

TAmil Nadu regulator Rajendra Arlekar on th said that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) authorities would tackle a “ societal justice survey” after the conclusion of the 2027 caste Census and will pass a resolution demanding the state’s due share of financial devolution from the taxes contributed to the Centre.With his maiden address to the 17th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Arlekar became the first governor in the last three years to read the full text of the speech prepared by the government in his 39 minute-odd speech. The governor himself acknowledged the disruption-free proceedings and expressed “immense satisfaction” about it.Ahead of the assembly proceedings, the traditional ‘Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu’ (Tamil invocation song) was sung followed by the National Anthem. Later, at the conclusion of the session, the National Anthem was sung once again.During the previous regime of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), then governor RN Ravi used to stage a walkout without making his speech in the assembly stating that the National Anthem was not sung as per the assembly protocol, alleging that it was insulted.Arlekar said that the state government would urge the Centre to swiftly complete the caste enumeration in conjunction with the ongoing Census so that it can proceed with the social justice survey. “It is a fundamental policy of this Government that true social justice lies in every community getting due representation. To fulfil this policy and promise, we will urge the Union Government to swiftly complete the caste enumeration in conjunction with the ongoing Population Census. After the Union government completes the caste enumeration, the Government of Tamil Nadu will conduct the social justice survey,” he said.Welcoming the move, P Sakthivel, professor and head of political science department at the Annamalai University in Chidambaram told HT, “When the data is available with the government, it can do with more social welfare planning and they can allocate money properly and ensure that the money will be utilised for a particular purpose”.Tamil Nadu would pass a resolution in the assembly demanding the states’ due share of “financial devolution” from the taxes contributed to the Union government, Arlekar said.“Besides passing the resolution, a special legal committee will be constituted to legally pursue the issue up to the Supreme Court, in order to secure fair financial devolution,” he said, adding that a report would be published detailing the Centre’s “discriminatory approach” toward the financial devolution for Tamil Nadu.Arlekar underlined that this government would work diligently to press the Union government to safeguard the welfare of Tamil Nadu, to fight for state rights, to implement required schemes for the state and to create new infrastructure.The governor said Tamil Nadu witnessed a transformation it had never seen before as chief minister C Joseph Vijay, “the historical leader of our times,” formed the government within just two years of founding his party, the TVK, overcoming many barriers, vanquishing money and muscle power.On the visits taken up by the chief minister to Delhi, Arlekar said, CM Vijay met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and submitted a memorandum containing several long-standing demands of the state including the establishment of the Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS), near Hosur, halting Karnataka government’s attempt to build the Mekedatu dam, preventing the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lanka government.“The Karnataka government is attempting to implement the Mekedatu project. If this project is implemented, agricultural production as well as farmers’ livelihood will be severely affected. This government is taking necessary legal measures to halt this and to get water for Tamil Nadu at the right time,” Arlekar said.Reacting to the governor’s speech, Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar said that the state is ready to hold talks with Tamil Nadu on the project. “Mekedatu is not just close to my heart, it is important for all of South India. In fact, the project will benefit Tamil Nadu as much as, if not more than Karnataka, because we remain committed to releasing 177 TMC of water as directed by the Supreme Court,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.Mentioning that the TVK government strongly opposes the National Education Policy, Arlekar said, “The Union government’s stand that ₹3,458 crore due to Tamil Nadu under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan will be released only if the three-language formula under the National Education Policy is implemented is unacceptable.”“This is tentamount to imposing the three-language formula on Tamil Nadu. This government will urge the Union government to reconsider its stand linking the implementation of three-language formula with the allocation of funds and to immediately release the funds due to Tamil Nadu,” he said.Referring to the recent release of the White Paper on Tamil Nadu’s finances, Arlekar said it was unveiled to bring out the truth of the previous government’s fiscal mismanagement, as the state’s debt in the last five years alone doubled to ₹10 lakh crore and currently accounts for 28.3% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).On the establishment of ‘Singappen Special Force’ one of the poll promises of the TVK government, he said, “Even though the government of Tamil Nadu is facing a challenging fiscal situation, the chief minister is determined to fulfil the promises made to the people, immediately upon assuming office.”The foremost ideal of this government is to preserve public peace, to uphold the rule of law, to curb crimes against women with an iron hand and to create a safe environment for women and children, he said.Observing that there has been large leakage of revenue from mineral resources due to corrupt practices in the mining sector, he said, “This government will ensure efficient and environmentally sustainable exploitation of the mineral resources in the State.”“Organised illicit mining and tax evasion is being curbed with iron hand through proper regulation and enforcement to ensure that revenues flow into government treasury without diversion,” he added.Maintaining that the government has commenced coordinated measures to bring the diverted revenue that belongs to the State treasury, the governor said, “This government has recently levied an additional privilege fee on liquor manufacturers.”“Through this, revenues that were escaping credit to State exchequer have been regulated and channelised directly into the State’s exchequer and the government is expecting receipt of upto ₹1,000 crore annually,” he said.Noting that the government has closed 717 retail liquor outlets situated within 500 metres of places of worship, educational institutions and bus stands, Arlekar said, “Necessary stringent rules will be framed and enforced in order to completely eradicate the movement of illicit liquor, illegal sale of liquor and to tightly regulate this sector.”Aimed at serving the farming community, the chief minister has issued orders for fully waiving crop loans from cooperative societies for farmers with outstanding crop loan amount upto ₹75,000 and waiving ₹35,000 for all other farmers, the governor said.“This will benefit 14.43 lakh farmers at an additional expenditure of approximately ₹6,000 crore to the government,” he said.The government would work towards setting up of Olympic Centres of Excellence with an aim of producing future Olympic medal winners from the southern state besides projecting it as a foremost “sporting power” house, Arlekar said.Aimed at improving the livelihood of the people, A Vetri Thamizhagam-Vision document would be introduced over the next five years, Arlekar said.It would comprise of Tamil identity and pride, dignified living and social security, welfare of women and youth, farmers’ welfare, world-class education and infrastructure, excellent healthcare and environment, a people’s welfare government and a transparent administration, the Governor said.