TNI Bureau: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa walked out of National Development Council meet, saying she felt humiliated as she was given less time to speak out on the issues economic slowdown and safety of women. She told media persons that she was given only 10 minutes to give her suggestions at the meeting, which was addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
She alleged that the voices of the CMs are being stifled. She was upset as her Assam counterpart was allowed to speak more than 35 minutes, but when her turn came; she was given only 10 minutes. The AIADMK chief was humiliated at the meeting for which she had to quit.
Addressing the meeting in New Delhi, the PM Dr Singh said that both Centre and states should create an economic system where industries can grow. “Both Centre and states face resource constraints. We need to increase the tax ratio as a percentage of GDP”, he said. He expressed his concern over the current economic situation saying the country faced two global crises this year, which send negative message. However, the overall growth target of 12th plan is being set at 8%.
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Agriculture, which is now decreasing in the country, should be the government’s prime importance as the improvement of agriculture is essential for the growth of the country. However, Agricultural growth accelerated from 2.4 per cent in the 10th plan to 3.3 per cent in the 11th plan. Simultaneously, he gave importance to the growth in manufacturing, which should be in double digits in the coming years.
“There have been complaints that government programmes suffer from corruption. We are taking several steps to make direct beneficiaries through direct Adhaar by January, 2013. Unfortunately energy is under-priced in our country. This also means electricity is under-priced for some consumers, some fair price adjustment is necessary. The management of water resources faces challenges. Available water needs to be regulated”, he said at the meeting. Analysing the above he said “We are still a low income country, we need 20 years of rapid growth to bring it to a middle level”.
Talking on the growing number of sexual assault, he said that gender equality deserves better attention. He admitted that Indian society has not been fair to women. To take possible measures for providing safety to women, a committee of eminent jurists has been constituted. He said that the issue of safety of women is of the highest priority of our government. Without mentioning anything about the recent gangrape, he urged all chief ministers to pay special attention to women safety in their states.