President gives assent to two bills from Tamil Nadu, Himachal
New Delhi, Dec 26 : President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to two bills, including one from Tamil Nadu which aims to create a board to maintain and administer public charitable trusts and endowments created by Vanniyar community members, officials said.
The Himachal Pradesh Early Childhood Care and Education Centers (Registration and Regulation) Bill 2017 aims to ensure quality education to children by providing all basic facilities.
The Tamil Nadu Vanniyakula Kshatriya Public Charitable Trusts and Endowments (Protection and Maintenance) Bill 2018 also aims to prevent misuse, misappropriation of properties and income by people for causes other than those for which these endowments were created, a Home Ministry official said.
The president has given assent to the two state bills, the official said.
The Tamil Nadu legislation will apply to all charitable trusts and endowments created and administered by persons or organisations of the Vanniyakula Kshatriya community.
Many members of the community donated their properties for charitable purposes through trusts and endowments and such properties, in most cases, were neither utilised, nor maintained.
Following representations from the community, the state government has decided to constitute a separate board to save the properties and administer them without any hindrance, the official said.
The Himachal Pradesh legislation will bring the early childhood care and education centres in the state under government monitoring.
Such childcare centres are controlled by trusts, societies, religious groups or international funding agencies and these channels suffer from issues of equitable access, uneven quality and growing commercialisation.
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Mamata visits Bhabanipur EVM strong room, warns against counting irregularities
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee early Friday warned against any attempt to tamper with the counting process, hours after she visited an EVM strong room in Bhabanipur, alleging possible malpractice.
Banerjee, who emerged around 12:07 am after spending nearly four hours at the counting centre for her Bhabanipur constituency housed in Sakhawat Memorial School in south Kolkata, said only one person would be allowed inside the designated counting area.
"Either the candidate or one agent can stay upstairs. I have also suggested installation of a CCTV camera for the media," she told reporters.
Stressing the need for transparency, she said, "It is essential to maintain transparency. People’s votes must be protected. I rushed here after receiving complaints. The central forces initially did not allow me to enter."
Sounding a stern note ahead of the May 4 counting, she added, "If there is any plan to tamper with the counting process, it will not be tolerated."
On Thursday evening, Banerjee had reached the Bhabanipur Assembly segment counting centre, which houses the strong room for EVMs used in the April 29 polling, citing suspicion of tampering with the machines.
She entered the premises along with her election agent and remained inside for hours, even as Kolkata Mayor and TMC candidate from the Kolkata Port segment Firhad Hakim reached the spot but could not meet her.
"I reached here upon learning that the chief minister has arrived. But I couldn’t meet her since she was already inside the premises, exercising her right as a candidate to visit strong rooms. I wasn’t allowed there. I will not be able to confirm what exactly is transpiring inside," Hakim said.
The development coincided with protests by TMC candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in north Kolkata, where they staged a sit-in alleging irregularities and possible tampering of EVMs stored in strong rooms, leading to face-offs between TMC and BJP supporters.
Earlier in a video message, Banerjee had urged party leaders, workers and polling agents to maintain a 24-hour vigil on EVM strong rooms, alleging that the BJP could attempt to tamper with the machines before counting begins.
Her remarks come amid heightened political tension in the state following a fiercely contested Assembly election, with parties closely monitoring arrangements and raising concerns over transparency.
