CHENNAI: The activists of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, an NGO , stood near the Madurai collectorate on Monday begging from passersby. They collected Rs 56. The activists contributed Rs 50, and the total sum of Rs 106 was to be used to make a powerful statement.

A few weeks after the Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras high court that it didn’t have money to meet the costs involved in arranging live telecast of assembly proceedings, the NGO on Monday sent a money order for Rs 106 to the state secretariat.

“We collected Rs 56 by holding a begging protest near Madurai collectorate on Monday. We contributed Rs 50. And a money order for Rs 106 was sent to the secretariat to express our protest at the government’s unwillingness to live telecast the assembly proceedings,” said Satta Panchayat Iyakkam general secretary Senthil Arumugam.

He said many channels were ready to telecast assembly proceedings for free but the government was reluctant to give them permission.

In 2012, the state unit president of Lok Satta Party D Jagadeeswaran filed a public interest litigation in the Madras high court seeking live telecast of assembly proceedings. The PIL pointed out that the assembly proceedings in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh were live telecast.

“Only the edited version was released to the media for telecast in Tamil Nadu. The citizens' right to know what business transpires in the state legislative assembly is being curtailed by the government," the PIL said.

DMDK leader Vijayakanth has recently said Captain TV, in which he is a shareholder, is ready to live telecast assembly proceedings.

