(Excerpt from the speech of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at a seminar organised as part of the 23rd CPI(M) party congress, in Kannur)
The founders of our Constitution did not create a unitary, monolith government. The powers and functions were separated into three, and they were placed under the State List, the Concurrent List and the Union List.
After the passing of the Panchayat Raj Act, local self-government bodies were given rights, and the powers were devolved. Hence, I said, villages must grow, and with the growth of villages, the States would grow, and with the growth of States, the nation would grow. The Union government is bent on decimating the villages and States of India. This is antithetical to the Constitution.
