The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Tamil Nadu will emerge the best by 2025: Stalin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 13, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Tamil Nadu will emerge the best by 2025: Stalin

Special Correspondent

Says State government ready to lend a helping hand for attaining the goal

— Photo: K. Pichumani

all the best: Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin handing over a scholarship to M. Anamika, a student of Tami Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, at the TN Vision Summit in Chennai on Saturday. Manikam Ramaswami, vice-chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State council (second from left), and Gopal Srinivasan, chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State council, are in the picture.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will face the challenge and emerge the best among competing neighbouring States by 2025, according to Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin.

Releasing ‘Tamil Nadu Vision 2025’ document at the inaugural session of the ‘TN Vision Summit’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Saturday, he said the State government was ready to lend a helping hand for attaining the goal.

Pointing to the consistent growth in the IT sector, he said the software exports had touched Rs.26,000 crore and there was no doubt that Tamil Nadu would achieve balanced growth in all sectors.

“During 2006-2007, the State Gross Domestic Product was Rs.2.5 trillion and if we calculated the contributions of public and private sector in the State, it will be equal to the total input of Norway,” he said.

CII Tamil Nadu State Council chairman Gopal Srinivasan said Tamil Nadu had managed several changes in the past…but there were areas where a system needed to be put in place to manage the rampant urbanisation. The vision document sought to identify critical development challenges facing the State and set out a goal-oriented vision based by an action plan for each identified challenge. “We don’t claim the laying out of this vision document to be a perfect job, but we think it is a perfect start,” he said.

In his keynote address on ‘Tamil Nadu @ 75’ C.K. Prahalad, Professor of Strategy at the University of Michigan, said Tamil Nadu needed to attract projects, especially in primary education, secondary education and healthcare on a global scale, and implement them at phenomenal speed. “There is also a need to ensure fair access to lifestyle and economic opportunities for people and market-based access to quality and standardised education.”

Prof. Prahalad said three principles had to be followed while creating a vision –aspirations must be higher than the current resources, imagine the future instead of extrapolating the past and focus on next practices instead of best practices.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramadoss said he wanted Tamil Nadu to be free from alcohol, cigarette, tobacco and drugs. Besides, it should be free of posters, banners and hoardings.

Pointing that there are over one crore unemployed youth in the country, he said they should not be spoilt by films or by their matinee idols. “In future, health is going to be the major issue. Health can make or break a government. I want to protect every one of the billion assets of this country. I want about 600 million people (under the age of 30) to be free from alcohol and drugs,” he said.

Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss invited international health institutions to set up base in India and said his dream was to have at least one medical college in each district.

Vision 2025 calls for setting up a unique mega urban region around Chennai, developing 4 mega cities, upgrading 25 urban centres to world class levels and integrated transport system to compress travel time.

PricewaterHouseCoopers’ executive director Latha Ramanathan said the Vision 2025 aspired for universal literacy, higher education for 50 per cent of the population, healthcare infrastructure with 2.5 lakh hospital beds and 100 per cent poverty alleviation.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu