Stalin Stresses On Constitutional Amendment

Chennai: Stressing on the need for a Constitutional amendment to incorporate the principles of federalism as its tradition, Chief Minister M K Stalin wanted people cutting across political boundaries to accept State autonomy as a basic principle since it would facilitate people speaking diverse languages and hailing from different races, religions and cultures to protect their rights and sentiments.

Presenting part one of the report of the High-level committee on Union-State relations, headed by former Judge Kurian Joseph, in the State Assembly on Wednesday, Stalin regretted that the States were now at the mercy of the Union Government holding all the powers.

If Tamil Nadu was making progress in social justice, education, health, economy and infrastructural facilities it was despite all those limitations, he said

But since that trend could not be allowed to go on forever, the DMK that had to take the initiative for the introduction of State autonomy in the country, particularly in the context of a Union Government usurping all the powers of the State governments one after the other and the State lacking in the powers to meet the needs and aspirations of the people on its own, had to take the historic step of starting a discussion on a Constitutional amendment for giving total autonomy to States.

With the all-powerful Union Government, with its autocratic attitude, refusing to respect the State governments and expecting them to kowtow to the Union, the Tamil Nadu government, in a bid to find a way out, set up the high-level committee comprising Justice Kurian Joseph, former IAS officer Ashok Varadan Shetty and former State Planning Commission chairman M Naganathan to come up with a report on Union-State relations, he said.

Submitting the report to the Assembly Speaker, Stalin wanted it to pave the way for ending the domination of the Union Government and the granting of autonomy to all the States that should all together run the Union Government in the true spirit of federalism and put an end to the present situation of the Union being the giver and States at the receiving end.

Describing State autonomy as the will and last testament of DMK founder C N Annadurai, he said former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi gave the slogan ‘Manilathil Suyatchi, Mathiyal Kootatchi’ (independent government in States and coalition rule at the Centre). So it was the duty of the DMK government to give life to the will of Annadurai and realize the dream of Karunanidhi as the DMK was not one that would take everything lying down, he said.

For State autonomy to blossom and a coalition government to rule the nation, history had given the opportunity to the DMK and it could not be achieved by anybody else other than the DMK, he said, adding that the rulers in New Delhi had to be reminded constantly that federalism was not a concession for the States but a defence for the nation.

The report presented in the Assembly had incorporated time tested processes and procedures adopted by matured nations following federal principles with the principles of unity, integration, pluralism and responsible democratic principles in India and it was the responsibility of all to accept it with an open mind, deliberate on it and enrich it to level in Centre-State relations, he said.

The Union and State governments were not rivals but stakeholders of the same set up in which the nation could grow only if the States developed and it was in that backdrop that the present discussions on strengthening the Constitution was being carried out, he said.