Home Minister P Chidambaram used sarcasm to depict today's reality in Parliament, which has been paralysed during the entire Monsoon Session over the 2G spectrum issue.
"Today, the Parliament convenes at 11 AM and it ends at 11.05 AM. It ends in five minutes. We discuss about the day-to-day happenings in just five minutes. We discuss everything by that time," Chidambaram said sarcastically at a Tamil Sangam function in New Delhi. He made the remarks while recalling "great debates" between late Congress leader C Subramaniam and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagm leader C N Annadurai in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1960s.
Since the Winter Session began on November 10, Parliament has not been functioning due to Opposition uproar over constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum scam. Speaking at the function to commemorate the centenary year of Subramaniam, pioneer of India's Green revolution who held several portfolios in the Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi's cabinets, Chidambaram hailed his role in India's freedom struggle and described him as a statesman.
The home minister said C Subramaniam, Agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan and the then Agriculture Secretary
"It was this man (Subramaniam) who pioneered the Green Revolution... Everyone is proud that the three S (Subramaniam, Swaminathan and Sivaraman) are from Tamil Nadu," he said. Terming Subramaniam as a man who was "deeply interested" in promoting the use of Tamil and the language, Chidambaram said he played a very vital role in naming the then Madras state as Tamil Nadu. "Though many people can take credit now for these things, and many people may have forgotten these things, I am indebted to recall his contributions to Tamil," the Home Minister said.
He recalled Subramaniam's contributions to the Mid Day Meals scheme as the Education Minister of Tamil Nadu when it was introduced by then Chief Minister K Kamaraj.
