MADURAI l wednesday l december 18, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION hc judge deposes before sc collegium to present his case Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav met the Collegium members on Tuesday to explain why he made controversial statements at a recent VHP event SC panel to consider explanation given Justice yadav gets U.P. CM Yogi’s backing At the event on December 8, Justice Yadav said the Uniform Civil Code’s aim was to promote social harmony, gender equality, and secularism. He also allegedly made some communal remarks against Muslims. The SC Collegium asked him to put fourth his version on the remarks to satisfy the principles of natural justice, before any action is considered against him ■ ■ While the judge’s speech was panned for its communal undertones, it received the backing of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who said targeting the judge for merely expressing his opinion was wrong Justice Yadav had made the controversial remarks while addressing a provincial convention of the legal cell of the VHP at the Allahabad HC Dec 10 When the SC sought response from Allahabad hc on the judge’s remarks CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Do not make Aadhaar must for NREGS payment, says House panel A g e n c i e s @ New Delhi TH Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has recommended that the Rural Development Ministry’s Aadhaar Based Payment Bridge System for making payments under MGNREGS should not be made compulsory . In a report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Parliamentary panel said alternative mechanism should always operate to ensure that the goal of the scheme to provide wages does not get defeated due to lack of proper implementation of technology . The Committee pulled up the government on low wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and recommended a better inflation linked index for payment of wages to the workers. The Committee noted that the APBS has been made mandatory since January 1, 2024. “While accepting the gains of APBS, the Committee is of the view that it is too early to make it mandatory as the problems relating to Aadhar seeding still have not been resolved leading to exclusion of lakhs of workers,” the panel said. “The Committee, therefore, reiterates their earlier recommendation that APBS should not be made mandatory and alternative mechanisms should always operate side by side to ensure that the primary goal of MGNREGA to provide wages does not get defeated due to lack of proper implementation of technology it said. ,” The panel also said the wages paid under MGNREGS are inadequate. “Taking up works under MGNREGA is a sort of last resort for many of the poor rural masses who do not have any other option of livelihood or job option to utilise but wages of such nominal nature sometime with delayed payment only discourage them and propel them to migrate and seek work in areas giving better remuneration,” it said. One Nation, One Election 269 198 Members In Favour Votes against the bill A video grab of proceedings of the Lok Sabha during the introduction of two bills on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal, in New Delhi on Tuesday | PTI ‘One poll’ bill introduced in LS Draws fierce protest from Oppn; govt ready to sent it to a joint parliamentary committee P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Amid fierce protests from the Opposition INDIA bloc, the government introduced two contentious bills on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday through a division of votes, with 269 ayes and 198 nays. While the Opposition termed it anti-federal and against the basic structure of the Constitution, Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal defended the bill on simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies across the country . Union home minister Amit Shah and Meghwal said that the government is willing to refer the bills to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for further deliberations (JPC). “When the One Nation, One Election bill YSR Congress on board, BJD mum The YSRCP, which has four LS members, declared its support for the bill. The BJD is yet to reveal its cards — it drew a blank in the LS polls this year, but has seven members in RS. Kovind panel had said 32 parties were in favour of joint polls while 15 were against it was taken up in the Cabinet for approval, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it should be sent to a JPC for detailed discussion. If the law minister is willing to send the bill to the JPC, the discussion on its introduction can end,” Shah said in the House. As the government failed to secure two-thirds majority in the introduction stage, the Opposition wondered if the ruling NDA had the requisite numbers to push them through to amend the Constitution. Speaker Om Birla allowed a division of votes after Opposition members insisted on it. Taking potshots at the government, Congress MP Manickam Tagore wrote on X, “Two-thirds majority (i.e., 307) was needed out of the total 461 votes... but the government secured only (269), while the Opposition got 198. The ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal failed to gain two-thirds support.” The brief discussion on the bill saw uproar as a united Opposition, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party Trina, mool Congress and several other parties demanded its withdrawal. Leading the discussion from the Opposition side, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the bills are an absolute assault on the basic structure of the Constitution and are beyond the legislative competence of the House. “ONOE bill gives illegal powers to Election Commission to advise the President,” said Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi. Opposing the bill, DMK member T R Baalu said, “As my leader M K Stalin said, it is antifederal. Electors have the right to elect the government for five years. This right cannot be curtailed with simultaneous elections.” TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee said, “The proposed bill hits the basic structure of the Constitution, so it is ultra vires.” However, NDA allies TDP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) offered their unwavering support. Unrest in Samsung Gen again, workers plan killed in Russia ‘canteen boycott’ E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai cm honours chess king Felicitating world chess champion D Gukesh, CM M K Stalin on Tuesday announced the establishment of ‘Home of Chess’, an academy to nurture talent | Ashwin prasath express read 18 fishers repatriated by Sri Lanka reach Karaikal Fine arts quota for UG courses at IIT-Madras `14-cr cocaine seized from Kenyan woman Karaikal: Aligning with the maiden Indian visit of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the island nation has repatriated 18 Indian fishermen arrested for allegedly crossing the IMBL earlier this month. The fishermen reached Karaikal on Tuesday | P4 Chennai: In a first, IIT-Madras has introduced ‘Fine Arts and Culture Excellence’ (FACE) admission quota for its UG programmes for students who achieved excellence in fine arts and culture. Two seats per programme will be allotted in all BTech and BS programmes of IIT-M under the scheme | P2 Chennai: Around 1.4 kg of cocaine worth `14.2 crore was recovered at the Chennai international airport by customs authorities from a Kenyan woman who had attempted to smuggle the contraband from Addis Ababa by concealing it in 90 cylindrical objects and ingesting them. Unrest is brewing among the Samsung India workers in Sriperumbudur again over alleged harassment of 35 workers, who were the face of the month-long protest in September, by supervisors and management of the company . While one of the workers allegedly attempted suicide on Tuesday because of the harassment, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which has been fighting for the registration and recognition of Samsung India Workers Union (SIWU) at the electronic giant’s TN plant, has said that its members will launch a ‘canteen boycott’ protest at the plant on Thursday . Members of the CITU said the worker who allegedly attempted suicide was internally transferred to a different department recently He is currently stable, they said. . “While all the employees are back at work, the company is specifically targeting workers who played a key role in the September protest. They have also been consistently persuading the workers, under the pretext of holding training sessions, to shun the labour union and instead join the internal workers committee,” a CITU member said. In a show of strength, the 1,300 members of the SIWU will refrain from eating at the company canteen on Thursday . E Muthukumar, CITU’s Kancheepuram secretary and SIWU president told TNIE, “The company is pushing us towards another protest.” Continued on p7 Recruitment exams out NTA to manage higher edu entrance tests alone K a v i ta B a j e l i - D at t @ New Delhi In a significant shift from its role, the National Testing Agency (NTA) will now focus solely on conducting entrance exams for admissions to higher education institutions. It means the agency will no longer oversee recruitment exams. Making the announcement, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday that the idea is to conduct error-free exams for which accountability will be fixed. He also said that the government is considering moving to computer-adaptive tests and techdriven entrance exams soon. As the agency will be restructured next year, new posts are being created. “We have started the process of restructuring the NTA by creating new posts and appointing new officers. This will bring fresh energy the minis,” ter said. The re-structuring of NTA, which conducts 10 major exams in India taken by an estimated 50 lakh candi- dates, is part of its reforms based on the recommendation of a high-level panel set-up earlier this year following alleged leaks and malpractice in the National Eligibility-cumEntrance Test (NEETUG) medical entrance exam as well as a series of cancellations of other exams due to suspected leaks and other glitches. On NEET-UG exams, Prad- DIGI-EXAM system A major proposal was the introduction of a DIGI-EXAM system to ensure that only the candidate writing the exam takes the test. “Multi-stage authenti-cation of the candidate’s identity is envisaged which makes use of Aadhaar and biometrics and AI-based data analytics,” it said han said they are in talks with Union health minister J P Nadda on whether to hold it as a computer-based test (CBT) or pen-paper format. “Two meetings have been held with the health minister. We will announce the modalities as early as possible,” he said. As part of restructuring, he said 10 additional NTA posts have been created. “There will be many changes in the functioning to ensure there is zeroerror testing. We want NTA to be a specialist body We have al. ready started recruitment.” It’s in line with the panel’s proposal to set up 10 specific verticals, headed at the director level. The NTA should primarily conduct entrance exams. Enhancing its scope for other exams looked into after the capacity of the NTA is augmented High-level panel A senior Russian general was killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter in Moscow | P11 Congress treated Constitution as pvt fiefdom: Shah RAJESH K UMAR THA K UR @ New Delhi Union home minister and the BJP’s principal strategist Amit Shah on Tuesday tore into the Congress, terming it an anti-reservation party that recklessly amended the Constitution of India to pander to its appeasement politics during its long stint in government. Replying to the discussion on the ‘Glorious Journey of 75 Years of the Constitution of India’ in the Rajya Sabha, Shah accused the grand old party of treating the country’s Constitution as its private property and amending it frequently to appease its Muslim vote bank. “In 1953, the Kaka Kalelkar Commission was formed to provide reservations to the OBC, but its report was nowhere to be found. Had the recommendations of the Commission been accepted, the Mandal Commission would not have been formed,” Shah said. He further said that the Mandal recommendations came out in 1980, but they could be implemented only after the grand old party was voted out of power in 1990. Describing the Indian Constitution rooted with India’s culture and every aspects of natural justice and social ethos, Shah said the Constitution strengthened the roots of democracy and the transfer of power happens without shedding even a drop of blood. “The Constitution is not a tool for misleading or creating confusion in rallies; it is a symbol of belief and faith that must be respected,” he said. Targeting the Gandhi family Shah cited sev, eral amendments which he said were done during the Congress rule to appease one community so that the party controlled by the family can retain power. On the other hand, the amendments done during the Narendra Modi rule were aimed at providing justice, welfare, and empowerment to the people, Shah claimed. “Even before the first elections in the country Jawaharlal Nehru effected the first Consti, tutional amendment to curtail the freedom of expression. The Congress considered the Constitution as ‘private fiefdom’ of one family and deceived Parliament,” he said, adding that the Constitution is a symbol of belief and faith that must be respected. They (NehruGandhi family) considered not just the party as their private property, but also treated the Constitution as their ‘private fiefdom’ Amit Shah Jibe at Rahul Taking potshots at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah said: “The 54-year-old leader who calls himself ‘yuva’, roams around with Constitution” 77 vs 22 changes Shah said the Congress amended the Constitution 77 times during its 55-year rule, while the BJP made 22 changes in 16 years