Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Tuesday skipped the customary address to the Assembly in anger after he reiterated that the national anthem should be played along with the state anthem at the start of the Assembly session.
Elaborating on the reasons behind the Governor’s walkout from the Assembly, the Tamil Nadu Lok Bhavan issued a statement and alleged that the Governor’s Mike was repeatedly switched off and he was not allowed to speak.
“The National Anthem is yet again insulted, and the Fundamental Constitutional Duty disregarded,” the statement read.
The Governor’s Accusations
As per the press release, the Lok Bhavan wrote, “The speech contains numerous unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements. Several crucial issues troubling the people are ignored.”
It added that the claims that the state attracted huge investments to the tune of over 12 lakh crores is far from the truth. “Many of the MOUs with prospective investors remain only on paper. Actual investment is hardly a fraction of it. Investment data show that Tamil Nadu is becoming less attractive for investors. Until four years ago, Tamil Nadu, among the states, was the fourth largest recipient of foreign direct investment. Today, it is struggling to remain at the sixth,” it added.
The Governor’s walkout was also linked to the women’s safety issue in the state and accused the state government of completely ignoring it, though there is an alarming increase of over 55 percent in incidents of POCSO rapes and over 33% increase in incidents of sexual molestation of women.
The Tamil Nadu Governor also pointed towards the rising narcotics and drug abuse cases among youths in the state stating that the issue is “casually bypassed”.
“Atrocities against Dalits and sexual violence against Dalit women are sharply increasing,” the release read, adding, “About 20,000 people in our state committed suicide in one year- almost 65 suicides every day. Nowhere else in the country is the situation so alarming. Tamil Nadu is being referred to as the Suicide Capital of India. Yet it does not seem to concern the government.”
The Governor highlighted the steady decline in the standards of education and widespread mismanagement in educational institutions in the state. He further stated that several thousand Village Panchayats are defunct because elections have not been held for years.
“Crores of people are denied of their rights of grassroots democracy. This is against the letter and spirit of the Constitution. People are anxiously waiting for the restoration of Village Panchayats. However, this does not find even a mention in the speech,” the statement read.
The Governor pointed that several thousand temples in the state are without the Board of Trustees and are directly administered by the state government, stating that crucial directions of the Madras High Court on the restoration and preservation of ancient temples are not implemented even after 5 years.
“MSME sectors are under huge stress due to visible and invisible costs of running the industry. Entrepreneurs from Tamil Nadu are forced to locate their enterprises in other states,” the statement said, reasoning the reasons behind Governor RN Ravi’s walk out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
