MNM to contest local body polls: Kamal Haasan

Chennai: Kamal Haasan said his Makkal Neethi Maiam would plunge into its maiden electoral battle in the local body polls, whenever they are held in the State. “Absolutely, that’s what we are aiming at”, said the actor-politician when asked at a media interaction here Tuesday whether his party would contest the local elections.

Earlier, Kamal led a ‘model gram sabha’ meeting at his party office to underscore the importance of local self-governance as an effective tool to eradicate corruption and boost development. At this mock meet, the participants from various villages from across the state were apprised of the subjects that should be discussed at the gram sabha meetings to ensure graft-free growth. Kamal pointed out that the Panchayat Raj system had ensured that funds were not a constraint for gram sabhas for about 12,524 villages of Tamil Nadu, but the question was if these funds were being used properly. This year marks the completion of 25th anniversary of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution adopted in December 1992 which paved the way for the Panchayati Raj. 

The MNM chief recalled that this day in 1993, the 73rd Amendment Act came into force paving the way for village panchayats. “The face of Tamil Nadu would have changed” if only steps had been taken for effective implementation of components of the Panchayati Raj including the gram sabhas, he said. “Graft can be ended through mitigation, prevention and later eradication,” he said, adding, “However, the Panchayati Raj system, which is our strength and by itself a solution, has not functioned well due to political selfishness and in consideration of political mileage”. He also blamed the people saying they failed in not monitoring the system well; so it was now the duty of all sections to ensure that it was implemented properly for public welfare.

Kamal said the village panchayats should be encouraged to prepare local plans for the development of villages as the Gram Sabha is the only one in the country where participative democracy is practised. He had sent letters to all District Collectors requesting to convene the Gram Sabha meetings on May 1 and to ensure that all norms were followed, he said, and asked people to bring it to the notice of his party if these meetings were not held as per schedule so that it could be taken up with the authorities. Answering a query on MKU assistant professor Nirmala Devi, arrested for her attempt to lure students into a sex-for-marks and money scandal, Kamal said whoever is found guilty must be punished.