Covid-19 to debt: 5 key challenges for Stalin as CM
CHENNAI: economic decline, demonetisation and introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The DMK has promised an universal basic income of ₹1,000 for women heads of households, waive off education loans of students aged below 30 years, provide free tablets with data to school and college government students and a payout of ₹1,500 to 32 lakh widowed women, all single women above 50 years of age, differently-abled and Sri Lankan refugees.
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After a decade in opposition and in the shadows of his father and five-time chief minister late M Karunanidhi, the big moment for DMK chief M K Stalin finally arrived on Sunday as trends suggested that the party was leading in 122 out of 234 seats according to the Lelection Commission website data at 8 pm.
While Stalin had led the party to a sweeping victory in the 2019 parliamentary elections by winning 38 out of 39 seats, this year’s assembly election was a crucial test for his leadership as well as the future of his party.
The 68-year-old chief minister-elect for Tamil Nadu is ready to take on the new role at a time when the state is bogged down by Covid-19 and debt. Here are the list of five challenges that the Stalin-led government would have to immediately deal with.
Covid-19
The current state government’s efforts to keep the pandemic under check in 2020 was one of the major poll campaign highlights of outgoing chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami’s AIADMK and their ally BJP. While they were knee jerk reactions, Palaniswami came on his own when the state, like others, was hit by the virus. Tamil Nadu set a benchmark in conducting the highest number of RT-PCR tests in the country and setting a low mortality rate.
Stalin will have to face a second wave that is more virulent. Hospitals are filling fast and health workers are overworked. The active case load in the state is now twice as compared to last year and the same is thrice the number in Chennai, the state’s hotspot.
Employment
Providing more job opportunities to youngsters and women has been an election promise of the DMK as the unorganised sector has been most hit by the pandemic and lockdown-like restrictions. The party had also assured to pass a legislation to reserve 75% of jobs for locals here. It set a goal of providing 10 lakh jobs each year and 50 lakh jobs to youngsters by the end of 2025-26
Education
The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed schools and colleges to conduct online classes and reduce the curriculum, affecting students’ learning. According to the Annual Status of Education Report released in October 2020, at least a quarter of students in Tamil Nadu was not involved in any learning activity during the entire week of the survey period.
The state government had earned the criticism of educationists as well as the Madras high court over its order to cancel arrear exams in arts and science colleges and declare students as “all-pass”. The new government will require an expert committee to help address the set back for students in the past one year and discuss the way forward.
Finances
A huge financial burden is awaiting the new government. In February, the AIADMK-LED government had presented a revenue deficit interim budget. The state’s debt stood at ₹4.87 lakh crore as of March 31, 2020, which was likely to go up to ₹5.7 lakh crore amid the pandemic. The state’s tax collection has also remained low amidst the overall
Administration/ Politics
The state’s relationship with the Centre will play a critical role for the new government keeping in mind that Stalin has remained on head-on collision with the AIADMK-BJP combine. While the DMK chief has promised to retrieve the state’s rights and autonomy, it remains to be seen how he intends to negotiate via requests and tackle troubles with the Bjp-led Centre.