Students should help take development of the State forward, says Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

Tamil Nadu’s people-centric schemes have catapulted the State to double-digit growth in recent times, but it was not enough and there was still scope for development, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin told college students in Chennai on Monday.

At a grand event organised at the Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, by the State Higher Education Department to launch the first phase of distribution of 10 lakh free laptops to college students across the State, Mr. Stalin said schemes such as rights grants for women and cash incentives for students and the breakfast scheme have propelled the State to a position where global news publications have called it a ‘Superstar State’.

“Is that enough? Definitely not. We need more development,” he told the students, amid applause. “Tamil Nadu is dependent on you. The world is in your hands. Come out with flying colours. We will also win and return and will always be with you,” Mr. Stalin added.

Former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said there was a part of India that grew as dynamically and as rapidly as China and for as long. “One of those States that has done exceptionally well is Tamil Nadu,” he said, quoting findings from the book A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey, which he co-authored.

“When people say why can’t India grow like China, the question suddenly becomes, why can’t some parts of India grow like the China of India itself,” he maintained. That investors were increasingly choosing Tamil Nadu as a destination in the past four to five years was evident from the range and variety of companies that have set up shop. “It is important because there has been no successful development experience without countries doing a lot of low-skill formal manufacturing, because that’s what provides employment for people and inclusive growth,” Dr. Subramanian said.

Low-risk environment

Tamil Nadu has been successful in attracting investments because investors felt that the risks of doing business here was much lower compared to other States in India.

Listing various achievements of the State, Mylswamy Annadurai, former project director of Chandrayaan I and Chandrayaan II of Indian Space Research Organisation, said Tamil Nadu had effectively combined scale, capacity, and institutional capacity in its march towards development.

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin welcomed the gathering. Higher Education Minister Govi. Chezhiaan, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Information Technology Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa, Managing Director of the BMW Group Plant in Chennai Thomas Dose, IIT-Madras Director V. Kamamoti, former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand, and several achievers from different fields participated.