
CHENNAI: CM MK Stalin, during his reply to Governor RN Ravi’s address in the Assembly on Saturday, announced the government will set up seven special courts in Madurai, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchy, Chennai, and its surrounding areas to specifically handle cases of sexual crimes against women and to ensure speedy trials.
To further strengthen measures to tackle crimes against women, he also said that special committees will be formed under an official in the rank of additional superintendent of police in all districts to expedite the completion of investigation and trial.
Moreover, he said the rules of Tamil Nadu Prisons department will be amended suitably to prevent those convicted in sexual crimes from being eligible for early release. The announcements came after the government introduced two bills in the Assembly to increase the punishment for different kinds of crimes against women. The bills were passed on Saturday. The move came in the backdrop of the recent sexual assault of a student inside Anna University.
Other key announcements in the reply included the allocation of `3,750 crore for road works in urban local bodies, including corporations like Chennai, Madurai, and Coimbatore. He further said 3,000 new buses will be procured to enhance transport facilities in the coming year. Highlighting government’s measures to issue pattas for people from socio-economically poor background, he said one lakh more pattas will be issued in the coming year.
Criticising the AIADMK for wearing black shirts inside the Assembly to criticise the government, Stalin asked why don’t they wear black shirts to condemn the governor for not respecting the state Assembly or the union government for not allocating funds to the state.
Guv not able to digest TN’s growth: Stalin
In his reply, Stalin reiterated his earlier criticism of Governor RN Ravi for continuously avoiding to deliver the customary address to the Assembly, citing “frivolous” reasons. “I think the governor is not able to digest the growth of Tamil Nadu,” he said. He said the Assembly, which has a century-old history, and the people who elect the Assembly being “disrespected” by the governor for political motives is not befitting the constitutional post he held. “This is something the Assembly has never witnessed and should never witness again,” he said.