Jayalalithaa may be dead. But her government lives on.
Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Wednesday told the Assembly clearly that it continued to be her government focussing on inclusive growth and all her electoral promises will be fulfilled.
In his reply to the debate on Governor’s address to the Assembly, Mr. Panneerselvam said the government would work on improving social indicators with emphasis on education and health to ensure the benefits of growth reached all.
With the opening of more institutions, the enrolment in higher education which was 6.1 lakh in 2010 had gone up to 7.2 lakh this year. At a time when the gross enrolment ratio was 23.6 per cent at the national level, the State has 44.8 per cent. On the health front, 312 more treatments have been included to the existing 1,016 under the insurance scheme. Infant mortality rate has come down to 19 from 24 in 2010. In the same time, maternal mortality rate has gone down from 79 to 67, he said.
In the agricultural sector, over 1.83 lakh farmers have been given subsidy of over ₹1,000 crore. For mechanisation, subsidy of over ₹350 crore has been provided. For the past three years, food production has crossed 100 lakh tonnes, he informed.
On industrialisation, Mr. Panneerselvam said that across the country only about 10 per cent of the MoUs signed during the Global Investors Meet (GIM) would be realised. Till now, work has begun on 26 per cent of the MoUs signed during GIM. Besides, over ₹50,000 crore of investments were getting fructified, he added.
In southern districts where a special package has been doled out, three MoUs were signed for an investment of ₹48,600 crore. Land acquisition and financial closure was being worked at for two projects, he said. Explaining how the State has become power surplus in the past five years, he said projects to bring an additional 13,000 MW at a cost of ₹96,440 crore have been taken up.
Defending the government joining the GST and UDAY scheme as the Centre conceded to the State’s demands, Mr. Panneerselvam detailed how Jayalalithaa’s Vision 2023 and infrastructure development programmes were being continued with the same vigour.
Community participation
With the water-starved State facing drought, the Chief Minister said the government would focus on community participation in restoring water resources in the local bodies by reviving the ancient practice of ‘kudi maramathu.’
