A staunch believer of the view that economy should alleviate the suffering of the common man, Mr. Naganathan feels that today’s economy is not a “welfare economy”.

“When the greedy do not pay, the needy suffer,” he says.

“Fortunately, the agriculture sector in Tamil Nadu has been good compared to that in other States. The various welfare measures of the State Government have helped the farmers in a big way. The State has been able to produce 96 million tonnes of food grains in 2006-07, after difficult years of drought and floods,” he explains while talking about the Commission’s plans for the farming community.

Thanks to the safety social net being provided in Tamil Nadu, suicide rate among farmers is very low, he opines.

According to him, the public distribution system and subsidy to farmers have led to stabilisation of prices in Tamil Nadu.

“Planning process should have regular consultation with the people. Once the approach paper of the XI Plan was published, it was sent to different districts to get the opinion of students, teachers, officials and representatives of the Panchayat Raj. Their suggestions will be integrated in the Plan. It will be a People’s Plan”, he says. His far-sightedness and commitment reflects in his work.

Another matter close to his heart is the revamping of the school, college and university education in the State.

“Tamil Nadu is poised for growth in higher education. From this year, students studying in Government colleges will be offered free education.

Earlier we restructured the Plus Two syllabus, which was a major success among students and teachers,” he says.

He is very happy with the nutritional standards of children in the age group of 4-15 in the State.Tamil Nadu stands second in the country for nutrition.

The noon meal scheme, now with the addition of an egg each, of the State is being adopted by other States, he says.His future targets include rationalising economic development in the State to benefit the common man and requesting experts to innovate in Plan implementation.

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