The Cabinet on Monday discussed the inclusion of various subjects in the Governor's address to be presented to the Assembly on Friday.
Chaired by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the meeting lasted over three hours.
Officials said though the meeting was scheduled for 9.30 a.m., it began about 10 minutes ahead as the Chief Minister reached Fort St. George around 9.15 a.m. and straightaway went to the Cabinet Room.
Several promises given by the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in its election manifesto were discussed.
Issues such as the nationalisation of the private cable television network, distribution of laptops free to students of arts and science colleges, engineering colleges and polytechnics, free distribution of fans, mixies and wet grinders to women are said to have been discussed.
Merger issue
The question of merger of five Anna Universities of Technology and the issue of conducting counselling for engineering students in a centralised or decentralised manner were among those matters that were before the government to decide.