ABP Southern Rising Summit 2023: Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin said a bigger conspiracy was being hatched to punish the Southern states for their good performance in paying taxes to the Centre through the delimitation exercise of Lok Sabha constituencies. Speaking at ABP Network's 'Southern Rising Summit', Stalin said it was a clear attempt to silence the voice of southern states.
"It is clear that all five states - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana - will lose their seat share in Lok Sabha. If delimitation is done without changing the total number of seats in Lok Sabha, Tamil Nadu will lose eight seats, from the current 39 seats to 31," Stalin said.
The DMK leader also spoke on the row over his remarks on eradicating 'Sanatana Dharma' as well as the NEET controversy. Stalin said his statement on the importance of creating an equal society without caste discrimination was "mischievously twisted" and "falsely spread" by the BJP for cheap political gains.
Here is the full text of Udhayanidhi Stalin's speech at the ABP 'Southern Rising Summit':
Ladies & Gentlemen, I am happy to be part of this conclave and deliver this address. I thank ABP Network for giving me the topic, The Tamil Nadu Model – What India Can Learn? This conclave is aptly named The Southern Rising Summit 2023. Yes, the South is rising. Especially, Tamil Nadu has not just been rising but also guiding the Indian Sub- Continent.
For the last 50 years, the South Indian states have grown faster than the national average. ஒரு நல்ல அரசு என்பது, உணவு உற்பத்தி – கல்வி – சுகாதாரம் – ததாழில்துறை ஆகிய அம்சங்களில் சிைந்து விளங்க வவண்டும் என்று தசால்வார்கள். (Tamil Nadu has attained greater heights in the field of Food Security, Agriculture, Education, health and industrial sector.)
சுதந்திரம் தபற்ை பிைகு இந்திய மாநிலங்கள் தபரும்பாலானறவ ஒவர நிறலயில் தான் இருந்தன. எல்லா மாநிலத்துக்கும், ஒவர மாதிரியான வாய்ப்புகள் தான் இருந்தது. ஆனால், ததன் மாநிலங்கள், குைிப்பாக தமிழ்நாடு இந்தளவுக்கு முன்வனற்ைம் கண்டிருக்கிைது என்ைால், இங்கு நிகழ்ந்த சமூக தபாருளாதார புரட்சி தான் காரணம். உழுதவருக்வக நிலம் தசாந்தம் என்கிை வறகயில் நில உச்சவரம்பு சட்டத்றத தகாண்டு வந்து ஏறழ – எளிய மக்களுக்கு நிலங்கறள வழங்கியவர் கறலஞர் அவர்கள். உணவு உற்பத்திறய தபருக்கியவதாடு, உணவுப்தபாருட்கறள குறைந்த விறலக்கும், கட்டணமின்ைியும் அறனவருக்கும் தகாண்டு வசர்த்தது திராவிட முன்வனற்ைக் கழக அரசு.
இன்றைக்கு இந்தியாவிவலவய ஒரு முன்வனாடி உணவு தகாள்முதல் மற்றும் வினிவயாக அறமப்பாக Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation உள்ளது. தமிழ்நாட்டின் தபாது விநிவயாக முறை, Public Distribution System என்பது வலிறமயானது.
(After attaining independence, all states were in the same position. They all had similar opportunities. However, if Tamil Nadu has developed at this rate, the reason lies in the social-economic revolution in the state. Former CM Karunanidhi believed that it was the duty of the government to ensure that the land was accessible to those who worked hard on it. He introduced a law on 'Ceiling on Land Holding' and distributed lands to the farmers. By increasing food production, the DMK government provided food products at affordable prices and even free of cost to the people. Consequently, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation has emerged as a leading entity for procurement and distribution. Tamil Nadu's Public Distribution System stands strong.)
The DMK has been giving equal importance to the health and education. Our Honourable Chief Minister has built state-of-the art library called Kalaignar Centenary Library at Madurai and 1000-bedded - Kalaignar Centenary Multispecialty Hospital at Chennai at a cost of 250 crores each. Tamil Nadu has achieved a phenomenal growth in industrial sector.
Tamil Nadu is the first State in India to frame an IT policy as early as in 1997 and introduce a need-based computer education in educational institutions in a big way.
We are one of the top economies of the country. We are competing with the Maharashtra in the field of Industrial Development.
In my view, one of the important factors that contributed to this faster growth, was the linguistic flexibility and acceptance of English. In the 1960s, when there was an effort to remove English from being the official language of India, the DMK was in the forefront of the fight against Hindi imposition. The DMK cadres across the state protested and made it a people’s movement and prevented linguistic chauvinism. We succeeded in retaining English as an official language. The results of the successful resistance are evident from the growth Tamil Nadu has achieved.
Our people have gone places. From NASA to Silicon Valley Big Tech, you name it, you see Indians, mainly Tamilians occupying important positions.
The most recent examples one could cite for Tamil Nadu’s illustrious growth story is the contribution of state- educated Tamil Nadu scientists in the numerous ISRO missions in the recent decade.
From Chandrayaan-I project director Mayilsamy Annadurai to Veeramuthuvel, the brain behind Chandrayaan-III mission, and not to mention Ms Nihar Shaji, the project director of Aditya L-1, the state has produced one of the best talents in the field of space science.
"I studied in the state-board Tamil medium school and attained this height," Thiru Veeramuthuvel said in a felicitation event arranged by Tamil Nadu government.
They are also our answer to those who question the linguistic policy and growth formula of the Dravidian model. The growth story and vision of Dravidian model, in fact, did not stop with producing great thinkers and scientists and trained and skilled youths. The Dravidian model of Tamil Nadu, particularly our visionary leaders late Thanthai Periyar, Perarignar Anna and Dr.Kalaignar piloted some of the reformatory and revolutionary changes in the state.
I would like to point out a few:
Legalising self-respect marriages in 1967 in the first tenure of the DMK government - Supreme Court has upheld similar legislation only recently.
Nationalization of buses in the 1970s, providing free spectacles to rural people,
Inheritance rights of women in ancestral property, which was upheld by the Supreme Court a few years ago, was legislated by Kalaignar in 1989.
In the same year, Kalaignar also formed self-help groups for women. The two schemes of the DMK ushered in a remarkable change in the social fabric of the state. Kalaignar abolished common entrance test and produced lakhs of first-generation engineers and doctors from the oppressed and subaltern section of the society by waiving their fees completely.
Taking over from Kalaignar, our beloved CM has now taken welfare governance to a whole new level by launching schemes never ever thought of in the sub- continent.
The chief minister’s breakfast scheme benefitting 17 lakh govt school students, the Naan Muthalvan scheme turning 13 lakh college students as industry-ready and Vidiyal Payanam offering costless bus travel for women have turned the Dravidian model govt a role model govt for other states to emulate.
The Telangana govt has emulated our CM’s breakfast scheme recently, while Karnataka has replicated our vidiyal payanam scheme.
To top it all, the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam, the crown jewel of our govt and the largest ever scheme implemented by a state in terms of fiscal responsibility, has transformed our Dravidian model govt into a matter of envy across the country. About one crore and six lakh and 52 thousand women are receiving Rs.1000 per month.
The other idea that DMK has stood for consistently, is Federalism. We have been advocating for state rights from the time of DMK’s inception in 1949. We believe that the - One size, fit all - approach will not work for a vast & diverse country like our India.
The Union Government should frame the broader policy framework and provide sufficient space for the states to design and implement schemes that are suitable to the needs of the people of the state.
This approach will allow the states to adapt and innovate. This approach will allow for cross learning - States will learn from each other on the best practices.
The number of people who go to colleges in Tamil Nadu- the Gross Enrolment Ratio - is about 52%. This is better than the USA, where the GER is around 41% & on par with Scandinavian countries. It’s a phenomenal achievement. An achievement that stands testimony to the Dravidian Model of Governance.
I have just given you a couple of examples. Likewise, some States would have performed well on a particular parameter. States could learn from each other, and modify it appropriately. Therefore, we advocate a system where the Union Govt acts as an enabler, and supports the states to design and implement schemes that are relevant to their context. This can be the approach for truly cooperative federalism.
Unfortunately, in the last few years, the Union Government has not followed this approach. Rather, they have been using all possible means to centralise power, and dictate terms to the states.
The Union Government is using the independent investigative agencies to hunt its political opponents across the country. The Union Government is sending governors to the non-BJP-ruled states to ruin their administration. The functioning of Tamil Nadu governor is a case in point.
NEET is another catastrophe which was imposed on us. Early in the last century, there was a rule saying Sanskrit is mandatory for obtaining MBBS admissions. It was the justice Party abolished the rule. The current BJP government has imposed NEET which killed around 22 lives in Tamil Nadu and many students who wanted to be the doctors had killed themselves in other parts of the country too.
Most recently the union govt has taken another outrageously regressive step to hamper development in medical infrastructure of the Tamil Nadu. A recent example of this, is the guidelines issued by the National Medical Council. The guidelines say that the medical colleges shall follow the ratio of 100 MBBS seats for every 10 lakh population.
If these guidelines are to be followed, none of the five South Indian states - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana - can build new medical colleges. Why should our states be stopped from building new colleges? This approach will only penalise the best performing states.
It is not new that South is paying higher tax to the union government and getting very least amount in return. Let me put out a statistic for your understanding. Do you know, for every One-rupee, Tamil Nadu pays as tax to the union, we only receive 29 paise in return.
Our honourable finance minister Annan Thangam Thennarasu even pointed out this injustice in our state assembly yesterday. Since 2014, Tamil Nadu has paid tax to the tune of Rs.5 lakh crore to the union government. But we have received just Rs.2 lakh crores in return. However, the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, which paid Rs.2 lakh crores as tax in these nine years, has received Rs 9 lakh crores. This is outrightly an injustice meted out by the union govt to the best performing states.
Not just this. A bigger conspiracy is being hatched to punish the Southern States for their good performance, through the impending delimitation exercise of Lok Sabha constituencies.
In the 70s, the Union Government promoted the population control program. The South Indian States implemented the program effectively.
Their population growth rate slowed, in comparison to states that did not implement the program well, whose population continued to grow at a higher rate. This effectively reduced the population share of the South Indian States. Today, this is being used against us.
As you all would know, the Constitution mandates that— each state must receive seats in proportion to its population and constituencies should be of roughly equal to the size of population.
The Union Government pushed states to reduce population in the 1970s, this principle was kept in abeyance through a constitutional amendment. The amendment to the Constitution passed by the Parliament in 1976, froze the number of seats in the Lok Sabha till 2000.
In 2001, when this issue came up, the States that were likely to lose seats protested. Due to this protest, the then NDA government piloted another constitutional amendment - 84th amendment to the Constitution- that extended the freeze for another 25 years - till 2026.
We are just two years away from the deadline. So, how will delimitation affect us? It is clear that all five states - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana - will lose their seat share in Lok Sabha. If delimitation is done without changing the total number of seats in Lok Sabha, Tamil Nadu will lose 8 seats, from the current 39 seats to 31. This is a clear attempt to silence the voice of Southern states.
Our Chief Minister has called delimitation a sword hanging over our head. We should be mindful of the conspiracy that is being hatched to take away our rights, and act accordingly. I am hopeful that most political parties that are fighting for the state rights will oppose this move. Every right-thinking citizen will confront this move. And, I can guarantee you that DMK will be at the forefront of this people's movement.
Finally, I have a request for the media friends who have lent ears to me. From the above points, you would have understood that Tamil Nadu is distinct and a class apart from the rest of the country on most spheres of social development.
However, the media, mostly the upcountry media has been prejudiced in its perception of Tamil Nadu. Instead of showcasing our success story and uniqueness, a few northern India media paints a grim picture of the state as being divisive. We are not divisive. We are great patriots and second to none, in fact, we are among the first, in contributing to national development.
I can also cite instances when the media had fallen prey to the malicious designs of some selfish political parties like the BJP. Recently, I spoke about the importance of creating an equal society without caste discrimination. My statement was mischievously twisted and falsely spread by the BJP for cheap political gains. Instead of exposing the falsehood of the BJP and the truth in my statement, the media, mainly the North Indian media organised exhaustive debates daily.
It was worrisome to see the media fall for malicious political designs instead of speaking truth to power.
ஊடகங்களுக்கும் சமூக தபாறுப்பு இருக்கிைது. உங்கறளயும் மக்கள் பார்த்துக் தகாண்டிருக்கிைார்கள். எனவவ, அந்த தபாறுப்றப உணர்ந்து நீங்கள் அறனவரும் தசயல்பட வவண்டும் என்று இந்த வநரத்தில் வகட்டுக் தகாள்கிவைன்.
I would like to conclude my speech with the famous quote of our great leader Perarignar Anna. Anna said, "Go to the People, Live among them, Learn from them, Serve them, Plan with them, Start with what they know, Build with what they have."
Our Honourable Chief Minister is following what Anna said some six decades ago and running a people-centric and public welfare government. I sincerely wish the media up north would be more accommodative and democratic in engaging with southerners like us and change their wrong perception of Tamil Nadu, in the interest of the nation.
Tamil Nadu, mainly DMK and our people will continue to contribute to the national development. Thank You.