Legislators need to deal sternly with corruption: Dr Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has called upon the Legislators to deal sternly with corruption and inefficiency in the process of good governance.

Dr. Manmohan Singh on Saturday, inaugurated the Rs 450 crore new Assembly Secretariat complex in Chennai, in the presence of UPA Chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, at the Omanthoorar Government Estate.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi presided over the function.

While addressing in the function, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi appreciated Karunanidhi for long innings in the politics and said, that he and his DMK party helped much to pass the women's reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha. They also appreciated him for taking pain and personal attention to built the historical assembly complex building.

Both the leaders recalled the services rendered by former Chief Ministers, M/S Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), K Kamaraj, C N Annadurai (ANNA) and M G Ramachandran (MGR) for the upliftment of the nation as well as Tamil Nadu.

Chief Minister Karunanidhi thanked the Prime Minister and Sonia for attending the function and said that the alliance between them was intact and it would continue.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Roasiah, Karnataka Chief Minister Yeduyurappa, Puducheri Chief Minister Vaithiyalingam, Lt. Governor of Puducherry Iqbal, Union Ministers P Chidambaram, Gulam Nabi Asad, Jayapal Reddy, Veerappa Moily, M K Alagiri, G K Vasan and state ministers, MP's MLA's and Cinema personalities participated in the function.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker Avudaiappan welcomed the gathering and the Chief Secretary Sripathi delivered vote of thanks.

Sonia In TNCC Office

En route to the venue place from Chennai Airport, Ms Sonia Gandhi drove to Tamil Nadu Congress Committee(TNCC) head quarters at Sathya Moorthy Bhavan and interacted with the local party leaders and MLAs. TNCC President K V Thangabalu and others welcomed Sonia. It was an un-sheduled programme in which Sonia monitored the election process of Youth Congress Office Bearers.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi received Man Mohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi at the Chennai Air Port.

After saplings were planted on behalf of the Prime Minister and Ms Gandhi, Mr Karunanidhi, accompanied by Chief Secretary K S Sripathy, took the Prime Minister and Congress leader in a specially designed battery-operated car around the new Assembly complex.

First Assembly Building in the World

Inauguration of the new Assembly complex, the first Assembly building in the world to be designed and constructed as a green building, signalled the return of the seat of power to the Government Estate after a gap of 53 years.

The state Assembly is coming back to the Estate after a gap of 53 years. It met in the Estate in December 1956 in a building, which came to be known as Children's Theatre and later rechristened as 'Kalaivanar Arangam'.

In April 1957, the Assembly went back to Fort St George and functioned there till January this year.

The new Assembly building was built in place of Admiralty building, which was demolished. This also marked another new chapter in the annals of Tamil Nadu politics.

In the State which provided one of the earliest examples of a representative, grassroots democracy, the grand new Assembly complex has four circular buildings of diminishing size. This signifies the people and three pillars of representative democracy — the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive.

In his public invitation to the inaugural event of the Assembly, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who has conceived the entire Assembly complex project, referred to the Uthiramerur inscription, which testifies to the existence of a highly refined electoral system and a written constitution on the mode of elections. The importance of the inscription, which historians date around 920 A.D., during the reign of Parantaka Chola (907-955 A.D.).

Four circles

Explaining the architectural concept behind the complex, a senior government official says the biggest of the four buildings will be the Public Plaza, to which people will have free access. The Chief Minister is for turning the Plaza into yet another place of tourist importance. An open-air museum is proposed to be set up there.

The Plaza is expected to be thrown open to the public on March 19 when the State budget will be presented in the new Assembly.

The circular Assembly Hall, where elected representatives of the people debate issues and problems concerning the State, will be the next biggest structure.

The third is the circular library structure that will essentially be used by the Law Department, which can be considered as representing the judiciary.

The smallest of the four circular components will house the Chief Minister's office, which is the highest institution of the executive branch. The official points out that the Chief Minister is particular that the circular building meant for his office should be the smallest, meaning that the executive should be modest.

The official says that after obtaining passes, people can come up to the seat of the government.

Four water fountains are being set up at the entrance of the complex, representing the four circular buildings symbolically. They are designed in proportion to the size of the buildings.

Gallery – Click on picture to zoom.

- Asian Tribune -