Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) held a statewide public meeting to explain the rationale behind resolution adopted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly against the 'imposition' of the Hindi language in the state.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 1 (ANI): To assist Sri Lanka amid the ongoing economic crisis, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution piloted by Chief Minister MK Stalin in the state assembly seeking permission from the Ministry of External Affairs to supply rice and essential medicines to the island country.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 29 (ANI): Pattali Makkal Katchi President, GK Mani moved a calling attention motion in Tamil Nadu Assembly on the Perungudi dump yard fire incident in the outskirts of Chennai.

Chennai Apr 25 PTI The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday adopted a bill empowering the state government to appoint Vice-Chancellors to various universities in the state in an apparent bid to clip the wings of the Governor on the matter Chief Minister M K Stalin recalled that the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State relations had while dealing with the subject of VC appointments said there would be a clash of functions and powers if the authority to choose the top academician was wrested with the Governor The ruling DMKs move came on a day when state Governor R N Ravi inaugurated a two-day conference of VCs at Udhagamandalam attended by among others Zoho Corporation CEO Sridhar Vembu whose participation in the event was questioned by the Congress party The governor is the Chancellor of 13 varsities in the state Stalin pointed out with the Higher Education Minister being the Pro-Chancellor On Monday Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy tabled the bill to amend the Tamil Nadu Universities Laws to allow the state government to appoint VCs to the varsities The BJP opposed the bill at the introductory stage while the main opposition AIADMK taking exception to a remark on late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa by Congress Legislature Party leader K Selvaperunthagai staged a walkout ahead of the passage of the bill Earlier Stalin while appealing for the Houses support to the governments initiative said that even in Gujarat the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the vice-chancellors are not appointed by the governor but the State Same was the case with Telangana Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Incidentally the MVA coalition government in Maharashtra headed by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had initiated a similar move in December last year Stalin in his speech on the floor of the House said the state government being not empowered to select the vice chancellors created a big impact on higher education While the practice by the governor earlier was to consult the state government before selecting the vice chancellors there has been a change in this in the past few years he said In an apparent reference to the previous AIADMK government Stalin said that in the last four years the governor acted as if the appointment was his exclusive right and did not respect the state government that was providing higher education A government elected by the people being unable to appoint vice chancellor to a university run by it creates a lot of issues in the overall varsity administration This is against the democratic principles Stalin said He further said the Punchhi Commission had recommended against appointment of VCs by the governor a post not provided in the Constitution reasoning that such power will lead to controversies and criticism There would be clash of functions and powers between the state government and the governor he quoted the commission as stating He said the previous AIADMK government had in 2017 opined that the Punchhi Commission report could be accepted and therefore it may not feel bad to support the government move today The Centre had earlier sought the incumbent DMK governments opinion on the commission and the latter has made it clear that the recommendation that the Governor should not be given the authority to appoint a vice chancellor should be accepted Stalin added Pointing out that in the BJP-ruled Gujarat also the state government appoints VCs Stalin sought the support of the saffron party MLAs four of them in TN for the bill The issue pertains to the rights of the state its university education and that of the government elected by the people Stalin said while soliciting the support of the House before its passage Ponmudy recalled the appointment of MK Surappa as Vice Chancellor of the Anna University by then Governor Banwarilal Purohit when the AIADMK was in power and pointed out at the alleged run-ins he had had with the government before it appointed a Commission to probe certain allegations of irregularities against the academician The matter is now pending before the Madras High Court PTI JSP SA SA SS SS

Chennai Apr 25 PTI The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday adopted a bill empowering the state government to appoint Vice-Chancellors to various universities in the state in an apparent bid to clip the wings of the Governor on the matter Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy tabled the bill to amend the Tamil Nadu Universities Laws to allow the state government to appoint VCs to the varsities The BJP opposed the bill at the introductory stage while the main opposition AIADMK taking exception to a remark on late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa by Congress Legislature Party leader K Selvaperunthagai staged a walkout ahead of the passage of the bill Earlier Chief Minister M K Stalin while appealing to members to support the governments initiative said that even in Gujarat the home-state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the vice-chancellors are not appointed by the governor but the State Same was the case with other states including Telangana and Karnataka Opposition PMK supported the bill PTI JSP SA SA

Chennai Apr 21 PTI The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday saw a debate between the main opposition AIADMK and treasury benches on the gold assistance scheme of the previous government and the DMK regimes new scheme for women beneficiariesParticipating in the discussion on the demand for grant to Social Welfare and Women Empowerment department AIADMKs Maragatham Kumaravel said though the Rs 1000 per month assistance scheme to girl students to pursue education is welcome scrapping the gold assistance scheme to women beneficiaries is not acceptableThe Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Memorial Marriage Assistance Scheme popularly known as Thalikku Thangam Thittam Gold for Marriage Scheme was introduced during the AIADMK regimeThe main opposition MLA said women in the state expect the rollout of the Rs 1000 per month right assistance assurance of the DMKMinister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment P Geetha Jeevan said since 2018-19 the scheme was put on the backburner by the previous AIADMK government The new DMK governments scheme envisaged women empowerment higher education for them and also prevent child marriagesOn May 7 last year the DMK government assumed office dislodging the archrival AIADMK which was in power from 2011 to 2021Leader of Opposition K Palaniswami said in view of fluctuation in gold prices no one came forward to participate in the bid processThe scheme could be implemented only by floating tenders and only when participants quote the right terms the bids could be finalisedConsidering such aspects and the coronavirus pandemic since 2020 there was delay in the scheme implementation However it is not correct to say that the scheme is badAsserting that Thalikku Thangam is an excellent assistance scheme for women beneficiaries the AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister urged the government to address lapses if anyChief Minister M K Stalin said the government does not say that the scheme was bad and it was about flaws as the benefits envisaged under it did not reach the beneficiaries properly and fully The DMK governments Rs 1000 assistance scheme would reach the beneficiariesPalaniswami said besides helping poor women beneficiaries overcome economic hurdles in the way of getting married it also aided their higher educationHence in case of deficiencies in the scheme or in its administration it should be addressed and the programme should be continuedStalin replied that the scheme was changed only in view of its flaws The benefits under the scheme does not reach the women beneficiaries even after 5-6 years after they bear children following marriage Hence the government changed it and implementing the scheme democraticallyPalaniswami said it should be considered that the beneficiaries are poorFinance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said encouraging education and reducing marriage expenditure for poor women beneficiaries covered the goals of the Thalikku Thangam schemeThe Minister said he had himself previously appreciated the scheme However when the benefits does not reach the beneficiares even after say 3 or 4 years following marriage the alleviating value of the scheme fadedIs it not hence better to incentivise getting educated itself Thiaga Rajan asked referring to the new scheme of the DMK governmentTo facilitate girls get educated and to empower them the scheme has been changed Thiaga Rajan addedPalaniswami said the DMK regimes scheme would benefit those who study now and wondered about poor women who have already completed their education He urged the government to reconsider its proposal and implement the Thalikku Thangam SchemeUnder the previous AIADMK regime the Thalikku Thangam scheme The Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Memorial Marriage Assistance Scheme-MRAMMAS Rs 25000 cash assistance and a gold coin of 8 grams was envisaged to women beneficiaries who had completed Class 10 To those who had passed degreediploma it was Rs 50000 in addition to 8 grams goldIn the Budget 2022-23 the government announced transforming the MRAMMAS as the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Higher Education Assurance SchemeUnder the programme all girl students who had studied from Classes 6 to 12 in government schools would be paid Rs 1000- per month till graduation and other coursesThe sum shall be directly deposited in their bank accounts till the uninterrupted completion of their undergraduate degree diploma and ITI courses the government had said PTI VGN ROH ROH

Chennai Mar 21 PTI The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday adopted a unanimous resolution condemning the Karnataka government for its unilateral decision to proceed with the Mekedatu dam project across the Cauvery river and prevail upon the Centre to reject the proposal Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan who piloted the resolution accused the neighbouring state of posing problems to Tamil Nadu for decades and said Karnatakas decision to proceed with the dam balancing reservoir project disrespecting the Supreme Court verdict is reprehensible Where is federalism Here is a state that is disrespecting the apex court order and has not released the full quantum of water due for Tamil Nadu If we dont put up a unified struggle then we may lose our rights and future generations will curse us he said and appealed to political parties to support the resolution rising above party differences Accusing the Centre of meting out step-motherly treatment to Tamil Nadu on the issue he claimed successive Union governments be it the Congress or the BJP have not prevented Karnataka from acting contrary to Tamil Nadus interests The resolution passed with the unanimous support of all the parties including the AIADMK and the BJP condemned Karnataka for going ahead with the project allocating funds and asked the Centre not to entertain that states plea for environmental clearance and reject its detailed project report DPR Further the central government should advise Karnataka to not take up any projects without the consent of the riparian states it said Karnataka governments action of disrespecting the final verdict of the Cauvery Tribunal on February 5 2007 and the Supreme Court verdict on February 16 2018 and unilaterally allocating funds for the Mekedatu dam project without consulting the states concerned or without necessary clearances from the centre is unacceptable and this House strongly condemns the Karnataka government for this the resolution said Noting that the Cauvery water issue is long drawn one and an emotive issue for both the states the resolution further said the Cauvery Water Management Authority CWMA has been constituted to implement the 2018 judgement of the Supreme Court The House therefore requests the CWMA not to consider or approve the detailed project report of the Government of Karnataka for the construction of the dam at Mekedatu which is not mentioned in the Supreme Court order it said and expressed complete support to all the measures taken by Tamil Nadu government to thwart Karnataka governments attempts while safeguarding the Tamil Nadu farmers welfare Earlier Leader of the Opposition AIADMK in the Assembly K Palaniswami extended his partys support to the resolution and recalled the several measures initiated by the AIADMK government in the past to safeguard the states rights on the Cauvery water issue Thanking the leaders for pledging their support to the resolution Chief Minister M K Stalin assured legal steps to prevent Karnataka from constructing the balancing reservoir After the Chief Minister spoke the resolution was taken up for voice vote and Speaker M Appavu announced that it was unanimously adopted by the House The Mekedatu multi-purpose project involves building a balancing reservoir near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district in Karnataka The estimated Rs 9000 crore project once completed is aimed at ensuring drinking water to Bengaluru and neighbouring areas and it can also generate 400 MW power Tamil Nadu has been opposed to the project saying it would impound and divert the uncontrolled water flow to the state from Kabini sub-basin while Karnataka has maintained that the project within its territory will benefit both states as the surplus water stored can be managed between the two during the distress year and its implementation will in no way affect the interests of Tamil Nadus farming communities as there will be no impact on its share of water PTI JSP SS SS

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 8 (ANI): A special session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly has commenced to consider and pass a bill to exempt students of the state from the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 13 (ANI): Tamil Nadu assembly on Monday passed a bill seeking a permanent exemption to the state from NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test).

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 28 (ANI): The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Saturday adopted a resolution urging the Centre to withdraw the three new farm laws.