Sunday, Nov 02, 2003
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Tamil Nadu
By R.K.Radhakrishnan
The short monsoon session will start on Monday, with obituary references. The Finance Minister, C. Ponnaiyan, is expected to table supplementary demands for grants. The Business Advisory Committee, which has representatives from the Opposition also, will meet later on Monday to decide on conduct of the House, including the duration of the session. Normally, late-year sessions do not last beyond a week. Eight ordinances promulgated since the last session, including the one against usury and the one for extension of the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act, will come up for discussion. With its absolute majority, the AIADMK will not have any problem in the passage of the Bills to replace the ordinances, but the Opposition will try to step up pressure on the Government to revoke some of its recent steps such as curtailment of rations under the public distribution system and the complete withdrawal of the Government from the manufacturing sector. The spate of encounter deaths and the priorities of the Government at a time when it claims to reel under financial constraints are also expected to provide ammunition to the Opposition. Central to the Opposition argument is the Government's determination to build a new Secretariat at Kotturpuram here at a cost of about Rs.400 crores, despite the much-touted fiscal crisis. The bhoomi pooja for the project was performed a couple of days after the Union Environment Ministry had issued a draft notification, which made environment impact assessment mandatory for large building projects (worth over Rs. 50 crores). For its part, the AIADMK is unlikely to spare the DMK and the PMK - which are part of the ruling coalition at the Centre - for perceived anti-Tamil Nadu laws, notably those from the Environment Ministry. In fact, the Government today released the text of a letter written by the Orissa Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, in response to the one sent by the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, last May. She had written to the Chief Ministers of coastal States,the administrators of Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep and the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on the new coastal zone notification of the Environment Ministry, headed by the south Madras DMK MP, T.R. Baalu. Mr. Patnaik's letter, dated October 23, said he had ``written to the Union Minister, Environment and Forests to restore the powers of the State Government as per status quo ante.'' Meanwhile, the Opposition leaders have been burning the midnight oil, making last-minute preparations to take advantage of the crucial session. The DMK deputy leader in the Assembly, Durai Murugan, and the Congress leader, S.R.Balasubramaniam, are among those who were seen in their offices on Friday, preparing their strategies. While the DMK is projecting an impression of wanting to take on the Government at any given opportunity, the Congress appears less prepared, given the recent intra-party problems. The PMK is expected to come up with studied responses to issues of the day.
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