CM DISCUSSIONS

 

TN GOVT TO HIKE PROPERTY TAX ANNUALLY

 

TN GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS

 

STATE TO DECIDE SOON ON PENSION SCHEME

 

DOCUMENT REGISTRATION ON SUNDAYS

 

HIGHEST REVENUE EVER

 

TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT

CHENNAI PLAN APPROVALS RELEASED

 

NEET BILL

EVACUATE TN STUDENTS FROM UKRAINE STALIN URGES CENTRE

 

med board to aid jaya probe reconstituted

 

Guv sleeps on bills on univ, societies & more

 Guv sleeps on bills on univ, societies & more

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Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

04.02.2022

Chennai: While Governor R N Ravi has sent back the NEET abolition bill to the Tamil Nadu government, little known is that he has been sleeping on a few other pieces of legislation that the state has forwarded for his action.

Among the bills the governor’s assent is awaited are amendments to the Cooperative Societies Act to reduce the term of the board of directors of societies from five years to three years. Most of the directors are AIADMK representatives elected in 2018, and the present government has sent the amendment legislation to the governor.

According to the present dispensation, there was large-scale misappropriation of funds that include loans given on fake jewels. The cooperatives departmenthadfiled police complaints seeking criminal action against offenders of six cooperative  banks on charges of fraud. “The Bill has been pending with the governor since January 12; there has been no word from Raj Bhavan,” said a government source.

Another under the governor’s pile is the draft Bill to set up a Siddha University for which the government had identified 20 acres on the Madhavaram dairy farm. Based on a proposal from the directorate of Indian medicine and homeopathy, the government prepared a draft bill and sent it to the governor on January 5. “The health department has been making efforts to set up the University in the annexe building of Arignar Anna Siddha Hospital in Arumbakkam. A file has been sent to the finance minister to sanction ₹  1. 98 crore towards expenditure on staff and infrastructure,”a government official said. Any Bill that involves expenditure from the consolidated fund of the state shall not be passed unless the governor recommends the consideration of the bill.

The governor is also silent on a bill sentin September last year to amend the Bharathiar University Act to include five members from the secretaries of the college committees of the affiliated private colleges (aided and self-financing) in the syndicate. “The bill was based on a court order and considering the re- quests of the association of self-financing arts, science and management colleges, in line with the Anna University Act,” said an official.

Raj Bhavan did not respond to TOI's attempts to get a reaction from the governor.

Reconsider IAS rule changes, Stalin writes to PM Modi

 Reconsider IAS rule changes, Stalin writes to PM Modi

‘Engage More With State Governments’

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

23.01.2022

Chennai: Strongly objecting to the proposed amendments to the IAS (Cadres) Rules, 1954, Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to drop the move and instead engage with state governments. The move “strikes at the very root of our federal polity and state autonomy and would cause irreparable damage to the spirit of cooperative federalism”, said Stalin. The ramifications were “ominous” and neither the bureaucracy nor the state governments, the two important stakeholders, welcomed it, he added.

In his letter to Modi on Sunday, Stalin said many of the state governments were woefully short of officers at specific seniorities, “primarily due to the wrong cadre management policies followed by the Union government”. One of the provisions empowers the Union government to unilaterally draft the services of any officer without his/her consent and without the concurrence of the state government concerned.

Stalin suggested that instead of “imposing restrictive provisions to usurp the powers of states”, the Union government could positively reconstruct the working/ service conditions for All India Service officers through a transparent empanelment process and by ensuring professional space and independence so that the officers opt for deputation to the Centre voluntarily without any need for coercive rules. “I am sure, you will agree that civil servants must be allowed to work with a free mind and stay apolitical,” he said.

The amendments would damage the spirit of cooperative federalism and result in concentration of power with the Union government, said Stalin. While the Union government is availing the common pool from Group-I officers at the national level, the state governments solely depend on the limited pool of IAS officers available in the state, he said. The state governments were in the forefront of implementing various programmes, including central schemes. The states also face frequent natural disasters, which demand services of IAS officers. Given this situation, forcing state governments to depute officers would surely aggravate the governance deficit in various states, Stalin said.

“Further, I wish to state that the Union government’s lateral entry recruitment has also affected the morale of the officers who seek deputation on their own willingness. …this new proposal will eventually destroy the uniqueness of All India Services, a basic feature of the Indian Constitution,” he said.

Not going through the consultative process is grossly violative of the federal structure of the nation, said Stalin. The Union cannot usurp an existing provision to the disadvantage of the state in a federal polity. It will tend to weaken the core principles on which the country has been painstakingly built over the past 75 glorious years. Demolition is easy; but reconstruction has always been a long process, he said.

Stalin quoted Sardhar Vallabhbhai Patel, “who envisioned the steel frame of India, which has the independence to speak out its mind, which has a sense of security, where their rights and privileges are secured”.

Metrowater tender process goes online

 Metrowater tender process goes online

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Komal Gautham@timesgroup.com

13.01.2022

Chennai: Taking a cue from the city corporation, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) or Metrowater, has made its tender process completely online. The change has beenimplemented in Metrowater’s four recent tenders, with it asking all competitors to bid as well

l as make the earnest money deposit, which is 1% of the project cost, online.

The tenders are for laying of pipeline at Chembarambakkam lake, purchase of iron pipes, maintenance of treatment plant and pumping stations at Veeranam lake, and buying of machineries for the maintenance of sewage pipelines.

“Earlier, we called tenders online,but bidders would take print-outs of documents and put them inside boxes outside offices of executive engineers and superintending engineers. The tenderswould then be scrutinised and names announced. Now, the entire system has been made online,” said a CMWSSB superintending engineer.

Apart from ensuring more transparency, officials opined, this would help the board save money as it would enable better competition, which wasn’t possible in the earlier system. TOI hadreported how goondas were placed outside offices and contractors were locked up in hotels to ensure only specific contractors won the bids.

In some cases, bid amounts had been changed after tenders were opened.

CMWSSB awards contracts worth more than ₹2,500 crore every year. Of this, about₹ 250 crore isfor maintenance alone. Though there are nearly 600 contractors in the city, only a few bid for such projects. Some of these contractors fall under class I and can bid for projects above ₹75 lakh. While a group of activists welcome the metro water’s move, some demand that the state government amend the Transparency in Tenders Act, making online tender process mandatory in all departments.

“We have petitioned the chief minister and the finance minister and are hopeful that it would be implemented this year. The Chennai corporation took 15 years to completely implement the online system, but they are already reaping the benefits,” said Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of NGO Arappor Iyakkam. Officials, however, should look outfor tender conditions thatallow onlycertain contractors to participate and ensure such conditions areremoved, he added.

 

Shortage mars Pongal gift hamper distribution

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Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

11.01.2022

Chennai: Complaints of missing items, inferior quality and delayed distribution has surrounded the distribution of Pongal gift hampers to ration card holders.

The hamper contains 21 essential items. While initially there were complaints of missing items, now the standard of the items has come into question. For instance, some of the packets distributed at the Public Distribution System (PDS) outlet in Besant Nagar were damaged by rats. “Thankfully, we spotted it,” said Vijay Bobby, aration cardholder who raised the red flag.

On the other hand, the card holders in Chennai's neighbouring districts noticed a stark contrast between the quantity of the items promised. K Bethraj, a consumer rights activist from Kancheepuram said the packets distributed at the shops lo- cated near the collectorate at Pillayarpalayam contained only 10g-14g of cashew and 3g of cardamom instead of the 50g and 10g that were promised by the state government.

Besides, in Chennai, there was a shortage of the gift hampers resulting in serpentine queues outside the PDS outlets in Madipakkam and Kodambakkam on Monday.

F Syed, a cardholder from Madipakkam, said they were sent back home after waiting for hours. The employee at the shop attributed the delay to inadequate sugarcane supply. “Contrary to the government’s announcement, tokens for the gift hampers were not distributed. We waited the whole day at the ration shop to get the tokens. It makes no sense as those without the tokens are allowed in the queues,” he said.

A senior government official said the delay was due to the complete lockdown on Sunday, and they were taking steps to completedistribution.

 

NEET row: Stalin slams Amit Shah, to hold all-party meet on Saturday

Shah’s refusal to meet people’s representatives goes against the ethos of democracy, the CM said.

Published: 07th January 2022 05:43 AM  |   Last Updated: 07th January 2022 05:43 AM-

Chief Minister MK Stalin addresses the Assembly in Chennai on Thursday | Express

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday hit out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for refusing an audience to a delegation of MPs from TN over the NEET issue, and said representatives of legislative parties in the State Assembly will meet on January 8 to decide the next step to get the State exemption from the exam.

Shah’s refusal to meet people’s representatives goes against the ethos of democracy, the CM said. Making a suo motu statement under Rule 110 in the Assembly, Stalin said the DMK has maintained that NEET would affect students of disadvantaged sections, and admission to colleges should only be based on Class 12 marks.

This was why the government headed by M Karunanidhi scrapped State-level entrance exams in 2007, the CM said, and pointed out, that by introducing NEET, the Centre had snatched the State’s powers to admit students to State-run colleges.

Will join DMK in fight to nix NEET, but prep students for test: AIADMK

Stress ing that the Assembly had unanimously passed a bill scrapping NEET, the CM said the TN Governor has not forwarded it to President Ram Nath Kovind. A delegation of all-party MPs from the State had submitted a memorandum to the President explaining the troubles faced by students due to NEET. The President’s office forwarded the memorandum to the Union Home Minister for further action.

Stalin said the history of Dravidian movements reveal struggles for establishing the rights of the States, and that efforts to scrap NEET should be treated as the next phase of the social justice movement. “We will fight this battle without compromising our stand,” he added.

The AIADMK said it was ready to join hands with the DMK to scrap NEET but questioned the DMK government as to whether it can succeed in getting exemption for TN . Equipping students to face NEET by providing appropriate training is the need of the hour, the principal opposition party said.

Participating in a discussion on motion to thank Governor’s address, senior AIADMK leader R Vaithilingam said, “Former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami took efforts to scrap NEET. Since it did not work, he provided 7.5 per cent reservation for government school students. If you are ready to meet the PM and agitate in this regard, the AIADMK is also ready.

But we have to ponder over whether scrapping of NEET is practically possible. Vaithilingam also recalled the remarks of DMK leaders during Assembly polls about the party having a strategy to scrap NEET . Vaithilingam said the previous AIADMK regime had handled the first wave of the pandemic efficiently and the DMK government has handled the second wave well.

 

Govt plans to extend validity of planning permissions

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

07.01.2022

Chennai: The government has decided to amend the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, to extend the validity of planning permissions from five years to eight years,

A bill to this effect was tabled in the Assembly by housing and urban development minister S Muthusamy on Thursday. According to the bill, developers find it difficult to obtain fresh permission on expiry of the five-year period, in cases where construction projects are yet to be completed.

Further, Covid-19 had impacted activity in the real estate sector in the state. The interdependence of supply chains, migration of labour, cost overturns and liquidity constraints are some of the challenges the sector faced. So it would be difficult to complete projects within five years.

 

Dharmapuri, Tenkasi MPs top in attendance

05.01.2022

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Chennai: Members of Parliament S Senthilkumar (Dharmapuri) and Dhanush M Kumar (Tenkasi) recorded the best attendance in the Lok Sabha from the first session of 17th Lok Sabha until the winter session that ended in December last. Amid repeated disruptions, both members managed to raise 267 questions each, leading the pack of 39 LS MPs representing Tamil Nadu in the Lower House.

The data sourced by the PRS Legislative Research suggested that 16 members secured more than 80% of attendance, 18 members between 60% and 80% and the rest falling below 60%. “All our data tracking the activities of MPs have been sourced from the web portals of Parliament. We also used the bulletins and question lists published by Parliament on its websites,” PRS Legisla- tive Research president, M R Madhavan said.

The other top members in attendance, include Vijay Vasanth (Kanyakumari), Manicka Tagore (Virudhunagar) and Gautham Sigamani Pon (Kallakurichi), P R Natarajan (Coimbatore), S R Parthiban (Salem), K Shanmugasundaram (Pollachi) and K Jayakumar (Tiruvallur). The MPs, who recorded poor attendance include S Jagathrakshakan (Arakkonam) and S S Pa- lanimanickam (Thanjavur).

DMK Parliamentary party leader T R Baalu said the members tried as much as possible to raise the issues amid suspensions and walkouts. “From raising the arrests of fishermen to NEET exemption, from dam safety bill to the rise in price of fuel, bringing embarkation point back to Chennai for Haj pilgrimage to pending dues of GST, we put forth our demands,” said Baalu.

TN govt to extend contract of docs recruited for mini clinics

 TN govt to extend contract of docs recruited for mini clinics

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04.01.2022

Besides, 4,448 health sub-centres have been converted to health and wellness centres under the universal health coverage programme. “The government, after careful consideration of the report by the Directorate of Public Health, has decided to not extend the scheme beyond 31. 12. 2021,” the GO said.

However, with the threat of Omicron, the government has decided to extend the contract of the doctors recruited for the mini clinics until March 31. Corporation heads have been told to redeploy the contract staff working in the mini clinics to fever camps and Covid-19 care centres, the health secretary said.

With the closure of the mini clinics, the government is expected to save ₹26. 71 crore a month.

Former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had in December urged the DMK government to run the clinics as the scheme sought to provide healthcare for the poor.

Health department officials told TOI that the scheme lost relevance in the state with UPHCs and door-to- door healthcare initiatives gaining ground. “It will be an unnecessary burden on the exchequer. We will take a call on retaining the staff after March,” an official said.

The corporation is planning to convert all the 196 mini clinic buildings into urban health and wellness centres. The centres will be set up at a cost of ₹88 crore, under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat comprehensive primary healthcare scheme. They would provide diagnosis and treatment for noncommunicable diseases, childbirth and neonatal issues.

TN govt shuts Amma mini clinics citing performance

Chennai:

The Tamil Nadu government has decided to discontinue the Amma mini clinics launched by the AIADMK government in December 2020, citing lack of performance.

The 1,950 mini clinics were launched for fever diagnosis, but since the second Covid wave ebbed in 2021, the clinics were used only as vaccination centres, officials said. According to a government order (GO 592) dated December 31, 2021, shared with TOI, health secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan has said that the mini clinics have not reached a substantial level of performance, and with schemes like ‘Makkalai thedi maruthuvam’ and ‘Varumun kappom thittam’ now, the objective of providing easy healthcare access to people has been achieved.

What's current status of NEET Bill in Tamil Nadu, ask students

What's current status of NEET Bill in Tamil Nadu, ask students

The future of the bill, which says that medical admissions in the State would happen by considering class 12 marks only, remains uncertain as it is still lying in the governor's office.

Published: 03rd January 2022 06:55 AM

Candidates queuing up for NEET counselling. (File photo| Radhakrishnan, Express)

By Binita Jaiswal

Express News Service

CHENNAI: In September, when the Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill, 2021, was passed in the State assembly, the DMK government raised the hope of many demanding the scrapping of NEET. However, in the last three months, there has been no progress in the matter.

The future of the bill, which says that medical admissions in the State would happen by considering class 12 marks only, remains uncertain as it is still lying in the governor's office and yet to be forwarded to the president for his assent. Amid all this, the students preparing for NEET and their parents are waiting for clarity regarding the implementation of the bill.

"To help me prepare myself better for NEET, my father switched my school from State Board to CBSE board last year. Now I am in Class 10. The government should at least give some clarity on whether we will get an exemption from NEET or not. If yes, I can happily go back to the State board school and save my parents’ money," said K Srikanth, a student undergoing NEET coaching at a centre in Velachery.

Parents, too, are equally worried. "The bill was passed, it made newspaper headlines and then the government forgot about it. It should be made clear whether the bill should be implemented from this academic year or not. This ongoing confusion is definitely affecting the children," said Shipra Venkateswaran, mother of a student.

Academician and former vice-chancellor of Anna University, E Balagurusamy, feels the move was nothing more than a political gimmick. "Scrapping of NEET in the State was a poll promise made by DMK and they fulfilled it by passing the bill without examining its practicability. The students should not get into all this and religiously prepare for NEET," said Balagurusamy.

The anti-NEET bill was passed on September 13 and then it was forwarded to the governor's office. RN Ravi assumed the office of the governor on September 18 and since then it’s lying in his office.

General Secretary for State Platform for Common School System, Prince Gajendra Babu, had filed an Right to Information (RTI) plea to know the current status of the bill and the governor’s office replied the file was under consideration. "There has been an undue delay. We urge the governor to send the bill to the president as soon as possible," said Babu.

Political gimmick?

Academician and former vice-chancellor of Anna University, E Balagurusamy, feels the move was nothing more than a political gimmick