On July 1, the ADMK government told the Madras High Court that it will not be able to live-telecast/webcast the proceedings of the State Assembly because the government does not have the money to do so.
The practice at the TN Assembly now is that the State Films Division records the proceedings of the Assembly and releases tapes to the media when required, and only of select footage. No private TV channel cameras are allowed inside the Assembly.
There are State Assemblies in India which beam proceedings live. The practice in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly was to provide a live-feed to TV channels from inside the Assembly, where the government has set up cameras to record the proceedings. In Karnataka, private channels are allowed inside to record proceedings.
The Tamil Nadu government has set to make this about funding. The political opposition in the State has contested the government’s argument. In fact, the DMDK has reportedly even offered to provide live coverage of the Assembly for free on the party channel Captain TV.
The unwillingness of the ADMK government to provide live-telecast is evident in the different excuse it has been offering since the case was first admitted after a PIL filed by D Jagadheeshwaran of the Lok Satta party. In 2012, the government’s counsel had argued that since the PIL was filed by a member of a political party, it was not maintainable. They also argued that the judiciary cannot dictate the Speaker’s pejoratives. Now, they say they do not have the funds.
What this is really about is stifling democracy and wanting to control the information flow on what happens inside the Assembly to manage the perception of the ruling government.
The ruling political party does not want proceedings to be beamed live. Most of the times, the proceedings are exceedingly undemocratic, with members of the opposition being dragged out for speaking out against the ruling party. Ruling party does not want unflattering utterances about them to be aired. They can exert phenomenal influence on legislative sessions, and that is often so obvious that their leaders know that live-streaming would lead to public criticism. It is because they do not want to be ridiculed in public that what happens within the Assembly is kept inaccessible.
Legislation is the core-function of a representative democracy and keeping it away from the public glare, and attempting to shut down criticism of the process strikes at the heart of our democracy. As the PIL states, every citizen has the right to know what happens in the State. It is the duty of the State to use available technology to disseminate the discourse within the Assembly. Among citizens, there is increasing awareness of the importance of legislation and public policy for improving governance.
The live telecast of proceedings alone would expose the anarchism and flouting of norms by the ruling party. The ruling party is afraid that people would turn against them on seeing the legislators of the ADMK and its allied parties wasting the precious time of the legislature in extolling their ‘Amma’ and dealing very little of their problems and issues. In fact, if the sitting legislators of the ruling party contested in the next elections, the opponent candidates need not do any other campaign to defeat him, but simply publish the speeches of the ruling party candidate in the Assembly and distribute it to people.
The ADMK regime which told the High Court that it is funds-starved to telecast Assembly proceedings has frittered away its scarce fund for the political acrimony of Jayalalitha.
The Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation (TNTESC) has printed new economics and history textbooks for class 11 to replace the ones that were recalled two weeks ago. Although the textbooks had reached district warehouses several days ago, district officials of the School Education department have been instructed not to distribute them to students until further orders.
Around two weeks ago, the School Education department recalled Class 11 History and Economics textbooks after it was spotted that former Chief Minister Kalaignar M Karunanidhi and Education Minster Thangam Thennarasu’s names in the textbook’s preface. The department’s decision to recall the textbooks saw severe criticism from politicians, academics, school managements and students.
At least five officials from different districts across the state confirmed they have received the textbooks and have been asked to stall distribution after receiving orders from higher officials. “We received the books over the weekend and they were distributed on Tuesday to 10 schools in the area. However, we received orders from officials in Chennai not to distribute the new books until further notice,” said a senior official from a western district.
Around 2.3 lakh Economics textbooks and 70,000 History textbooks have been reprinted, said sources in TNTESC. “The old textbooks would be recycled,” said the source.
The reason for stalling the distribution of new textbooks remains unknown. Several attempts were made to reach officials of the School Education department, but in vain. The TNTESC managing director, Mythili Rajendran refused to comment.
Teachers, officials of the School Education department and TNTESC have said it was unnecessary for the department to reprint the textbooks. A highly reliable source of TNTESC said, “In the past, the department had used stickers to remove unwanted matters (Tirukkural in Kalaignar’s handwriting, solar eclipse etc.,) in textbooks. They could have just reprinted the preface of the textbook.”
“It is a waste of money,” said one printer involved in the reprinting. Printing the preface would have cost 30 paise at the most. Reprinting the entire book would have cost at least 60 per book, he added.
Sources in TNTESC claimed that around Rs.3.5 crore was spent on publishing the new textbooks. “It is not just the printing cost, but the transportation cost too,” said an official from the School Education department.
This is how the self-declared money-starved regime adamantly frittered away its scarce funds! (12-07-15)
The practice at the TN Assembly now is that the State Films Division records the proceedings of the Assembly and releases tapes to the media when required, and only of select footage. No private TV channel cameras are allowed inside the Assembly.
There are State Assemblies in India which beam proceedings live. The practice in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly was to provide a live-feed to TV channels from inside the Assembly, where the government has set up cameras to record the proceedings. In Karnataka, private channels are allowed inside to record proceedings.
The Tamil Nadu government has set to make this about funding. The political opposition in the State has contested the government’s argument. In fact, the DMDK has reportedly even offered to provide live coverage of the Assembly for free on the party channel Captain TV.
The unwillingness of the ADMK government to provide live-telecast is evident in the different excuse it has been offering since the case was first admitted after a PIL filed by D Jagadheeshwaran of the Lok Satta party. In 2012, the government’s counsel had argued that since the PIL was filed by a member of a political party, it was not maintainable. They also argued that the judiciary cannot dictate the Speaker’s pejoratives. Now, they say they do not have the funds.
What this is really about is stifling democracy and wanting to control the information flow on what happens inside the Assembly to manage the perception of the ruling government.
The ruling political party does not want proceedings to be beamed live. Most of the times, the proceedings are exceedingly undemocratic, with members of the opposition being dragged out for speaking out against the ruling party. Ruling party does not want unflattering utterances about them to be aired. They can exert phenomenal influence on legislative sessions, and that is often so obvious that their leaders know that live-streaming would lead to public criticism. It is because they do not want to be ridiculed in public that what happens within the Assembly is kept inaccessible.
Legislation is the core-function of a representative democracy and keeping it away from the public glare, and attempting to shut down criticism of the process strikes at the heart of our democracy. As the PIL states, every citizen has the right to know what happens in the State. It is the duty of the State to use available technology to disseminate the discourse within the Assembly. Among citizens, there is increasing awareness of the importance of legislation and public policy for improving governance.
The live telecast of proceedings alone would expose the anarchism and flouting of norms by the ruling party. The ruling party is afraid that people would turn against them on seeing the legislators of the ADMK and its allied parties wasting the precious time of the legislature in extolling their ‘Amma’ and dealing very little of their problems and issues. In fact, if the sitting legislators of the ruling party contested in the next elections, the opponent candidates need not do any other campaign to defeat him, but simply publish the speeches of the ruling party candidate in the Assembly and distribute it to people.
The ADMK regime which told the High Court that it is funds-starved to telecast Assembly proceedings has frittered away its scarce fund for the political acrimony of Jayalalitha.
The Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation (TNTESC) has printed new economics and history textbooks for class 11 to replace the ones that were recalled two weeks ago. Although the textbooks had reached district warehouses several days ago, district officials of the School Education department have been instructed not to distribute them to students until further orders.
Around two weeks ago, the School Education department recalled Class 11 History and Economics textbooks after it was spotted that former Chief Minister Kalaignar M Karunanidhi and Education Minster Thangam Thennarasu’s names in the textbook’s preface. The department’s decision to recall the textbooks saw severe criticism from politicians, academics, school managements and students.
At least five officials from different districts across the state confirmed they have received the textbooks and have been asked to stall distribution after receiving orders from higher officials. “We received the books over the weekend and they were distributed on Tuesday to 10 schools in the area. However, we received orders from officials in Chennai not to distribute the new books until further notice,” said a senior official from a western district.
Around 2.3 lakh Economics textbooks and 70,000 History textbooks have been reprinted, said sources in TNTESC. “The old textbooks would be recycled,” said the source.
The reason for stalling the distribution of new textbooks remains unknown. Several attempts were made to reach officials of the School Education department, but in vain. The TNTESC managing director, Mythili Rajendran refused to comment.
Teachers, officials of the School Education department and TNTESC have said it was unnecessary for the department to reprint the textbooks. A highly reliable source of TNTESC said, “In the past, the department had used stickers to remove unwanted matters (Tirukkural in Kalaignar’s handwriting, solar eclipse etc.,) in textbooks. They could have just reprinted the preface of the textbook.”
“It is a waste of money,” said one printer involved in the reprinting. Printing the preface would have cost 30 paise at the most. Reprinting the entire book would have cost at least 60 per book, he added.
Sources in TNTESC claimed that around Rs.3.5 crore was spent on publishing the new textbooks. “It is not just the printing cost, but the transportation cost too,” said an official from the School Education department.
This is how the self-declared money-starved regime adamantly frittered away its scarce funds! (12-07-15)
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