Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin has lined up a big surprise for the people of Tamil Nadu on the occasion of his completing the first 100 days of his tenure as Chief Minister of the State. It was on May 7 of this year he was sworn as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after winning the Assembly election with a comfortable majority.
During the election campaign that took him to all corners of the State, Stalin had told the people that he would take action on all memorandums submitted to him by the people amid the election rallies during the first hundred days of his office.
The Chief Minister's Special Cell functioning from Fort Saint George (Tamil Nadu’s seat of power) and headed by IAS officer Shilpa Prabhakar Satish has been working overtime to meet the deadline set by Stalin. The grievances ranged from issues like unemployment, dues to be reimbursed from various Government departments, non- receipt of title deeds or possession certificates of land, financial aid for treatment and non-availability of monthly pension for senior citizens under various categories.
The latest information coming from the Chief Minister’s Office is that more than 95 percent of the grievances have been addressed and hectic works were on to resolve the entire requirements of the general people. This is being seen as a record by veteran IAS officers and political commentators.
“The chief minister has kept his word. More than 95 per cent of the memorandums and grievances received by him during the election tour has been addressed. This is a new record. The Opposition had taunted Stalin when he made the announcement that he would give top priority to the common man’s concerns in the first hundred days of his office,” Vijayadharini , chief whip of the Congress in the Legislative assembly, told The Pioneer.
The Chief Minister is expected to make the announcement either on August 2 (during the centenary of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly) in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind or on August 14 when the Government completes its first hundred days.
Political commentators like Sam Rajappa who are known for their tough valuation skills expressed satisfaction over the performance of the choef minister. “He has done much better than our expectations. His tenure has created a feel good factor across the State,” said Sam Rajappa.
The State is facing severe financial problems, according to minister for finance Palanivel Thiagarajan who is busy preparing a White Paper on the State’s economy.
But Stalin has issued orders that welfare measures and aid measures to counter Covid-19 should not suffer for lack of funds. The White Paper, which could give an insight into the financial management by the previous AIADMK Government is expected to be out before the presentation of the budget for 2021-2022.