Transcription
Hello and welcome to the print. This is Prabhagar Tamlar Razu from the Prince Chennai Bureau. Today we have state planning concerns executive vice chairman, uh, Mr. Jan Jan, who is known for breaking complex, uh, economic subjects in a simpler form. Uh, welcome to the prince, sir.
So, uh, today, before getting into the larger, uh, aspect of, uh, economics of the state. So, when this government took charge, uh, in 2021, Stalin has vowed to bring up, like, a 1 trillion economy by 2030. So, in this part, toward one trillion economy, where do we stand? We are one of the fastest growing states in the country. And, uh, before he, before our Chief Minister went to attend the Nity meeting, he asked me to calculate two things. One, uh, when we will achieve, uh, this one trillion economy. 1 trillion economy, it's a, it's not a very, it's, it's not a fancy number. In fact, our aim is to triple our, uh, state government's, no, state government's, states GSDP, that is the idea. So, our, our projection is that, no, we may, we may be delayed by one year, but we will reach there as per the target. And more importantly, the government had asked us to work out where we will be by 2047. That is, after, uh, 1947 was the year of independence. So, our, on the year of our 100th year of independence, where we'll be, where Tamil Nadu will be. So, I, I was expecting that we will be somewhere around, know, 4 trillion or something. Okay. But when we calculated, know, if we grow in the same pace and the same level of, uh, inflation and the same level of, know, dollar value, you'll be surprised to know that Tamil Nadu will be a fighting economy by the time, by 2047. 2047. So, it, it has a very reasonable kind of an assumption. It's not some, uh, bombastic claim. So, I can, I have worked out there in detail the numbers. And, uh, if you want, I can share it with you. So, that is the projection that we have. So, that is one.
And once you start growing, it's something like, no, you can't derail it and stop it. Because, uh, unlike other states, the growth process in Tamil Nadu is not driven by the, uh, current economic policies alone. This growth is, uh, conditioned and guided by the kind of, uh, social changes that we have brought about during the past 100 years or so. So, what we have done is that, know, by democratizing education, we have empowered so many people of various communities, okay, across all the sections. So, when the second and third generation comes up with, with that kind of benefit, you know, it, uh, it, it has a self-propel. So, uh, apart from the state, state's policies, the long-term efforts, know, started paying dividends now. That's what you see. That's why if you look into the gross enrollment ratio in higher education, when India has a number of 26, 27%, Tamil has a percentage something like 50, 51, 52. That is because, now, you, you have reached the education to all the sections of society. And if you take the, know, present policies that, uh, we have in place, the schemes that we have introduced. Now, it had been always the practice that, you know, every time you take stock of the situation, you, you see, you know, who have been excluded or not included in the process, who have been left out. You focus on them and bring them in. Like, for instance, you know, this government took over. We introduced a scheme whereby from the girls who have studied in government schools and, uh, who are entering the college, then we said that, no, we will pay them 1,000 rupees a month as an incentive. And, you know, the enrollment, uh, jumped by 30%. Because of that scheme, which means, but for that, they would not have come to the higher education at all, and they would have got married or something. Now, because of this, you know, there are lot more of girls are coming into this, uh, higher education stream. And as a continuum, what we have done is, in the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, no, we have 30% reservation for women. Women. But because of this incentives and all those things, what happens is that, no, it, in fact, it is more than 30% now. The contribution of women, uh, contribution of women there, the number of women who get into the services more. That's why when you go to the Government offices, you'll find so many women officers at very important positions. There are districts where you will find the District Collector, the Superintendent of Police, as well as the RD, everybody, everyone will be women officers. That, that has, uh, that is made possible because of, know, these kinds of policies. You encourage them to get into education, encourage them to get into employment, give them more opportunities. And that way, know, the process, you know, the whole process is, uh, unleashed. And that's why I'm telling you that, uh, you can't stop it now.
So, when you say about women education, so Tamil government have been giving 1,000 rupees free financial assistance for women, free bus tickets for women, 1,000 rupees financial assistance for women who are pursuing higher education. So, the state planning commission report also says that, uh, women have been individually, they have been benefited and they have been saving money. So, how it has translated into this, like, in the society or as a, for the state government, per, like, for instance, if you educate a woman in the family, now, the saying is that, the transforms the family itself. Now, the, she'll be having fewer children, she'll be putting in more efforts to educate them. That's why I told you, second generation, third generation, it will be different. Okay. Okay. These are, these are the agents of change. So, what you are doing is, you are not getting the money into their pockets. Essentially, what you are doing is, you are empowering them. Once you empower them, there is a transformation that takes place within the family, which, when you aggregate it, it is the transformation of the society. That's what, now, we have, uh, we have attempted and we have succeeded. So, when you, if, like, for instance, Tamil, this budget, what we have introduced is that, we will administer HPV vaccines for all the girl children. Now, that benefit, you will reap after 30 years. Okay. Now, it will prevent so many women from, know, the cervical cancer. That kind of investments we make. But this HPV vaccine altogether prevents, know, the cancer possibility of cervical cancer. It will not serve today, but it will serve later. So, many of these programs, what we bring about today, is it will, no, it will lead to a better educated, healthier society. That's what, no, these programs are designed that, that way.
So, when you say about women education, empowering women, so this is what, when, in, in early to 90s, late '90s or 2000s, when DMK was in power, so that is how they built this IT, IT hubs across the state. But now, if we look at compared with the other states, the number of IT companies, as compared to, like, Tamil Nadu to Karnataka or in Hyderabad, the number of companies are way lesser in Tamil Nadu, and the job employment opportunity is also very low. At one place, we are empowering students and, uh, women to study and pursue the higher education, but when you look at the job opportunities in the IT companies, it is way less. So, where do we lag behind? Like, there are, uh, uh, there are certain problems, know, which, uh, which are legacy issues. Like, for instance, when the IT revolution came about, no, uh, during the first five years, we, we slept off. Okay. Then, when the first tile park was built, '96, we have already lost 5 years. By the time, you know, Bangalore had a head-on start, and many of the founders, you know, were from already. Bangalore had that advantage in the sense, bat electronics was located there. Yeah. And there are, so, there are so many public sector enterprises. Most of the founders of all this, know, IT, all came from there. Yes. Then Indian Institute of Science was there, is there. So, these are the main reasons why, you know, it started in Bengaluru. Okay. And also, know, it had a very cosmopolitan culture compared to what we had, what we have even today. Yes. That is because it was a cantonment town, basically. Okay. So, it had a very different kind of a lifestyle altogether. Whereas here, it's, is more conservative. Hyderabad, uh, one advantage, even today, they have, is the kind of, know, land that is available to them. Like, if, if one company comes and they ask for, let us say, uh, 200 acres, they can give you in Hyderabad, just next to Hyderabad. Paris. No, here, even if the government wants 200 acres, no, we can't find land here. And one side, you have, no, you have only sea. Okay. And then you have to move out to the southern suburbs, southern and northern suburbs, then only you'll have some land, but not continuously for 200, 300 acres. And so, that advantage Hyderabad has. That's why during the previous regime, his son, who was the IT minister, could finish deals, now, across the table, they're not constrained by, know, any of these constraints that we have. Many of the industrialists who come to meet me, tell me is that, compared to Bangalore, Pune, uh, Bombay, Hyderabad, Chennai doesn't have an evening life. Evening life or night life, both evening and night life, no, you do not have. So, when, uh, when their, when a company decides to put up an office, let us say, then what they do is, they, they ask all their potential employees there, which city do you prefer? So, they give you the list, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Bombay, Chennai, or some other place. Okay. Now, they ask them to rank it. Invariably, they say that, no, Chennai is ranked at the last. But if you go to Bangalore, go to Hyderabad, many of my engineers, now, many of my friends who are engineers in those areas and entrepreneurs, they say that, most, nearly half of, now, such employees are from here. Oh, okay. Even Tamil people are not preferring Chennai. No, they don't, they would prefer to go to Bangalore or Hyderabad. So, these are the major attraction they have. So, companies obviously, they move there.
Does Tamil do have any plans to improve this kind of culture, like night life or evening life? We are working on it, and I think, now, very soon, we'll be able to bring out some, uh, new kind of policy change, you know, towards that.
So, when you said about industry shifting to moving to other cities, say, for example, Hyderabad and Bangalore. So, recently, if you look at, uh, the Foxconn, HCL, joint venture of semiconductor industry, they were originally designed or planned to set up in Tamil Nadu, but then they have moved their, they have invested in Uttar Pradesh. It is not that, what, what I'm saying is, uh, it's not that, no, industries have moved. It hasn't come here. Okay. It, or any other industry, it has come in a way, big way. But the, the kind of problem that we face, that's what I was celebrating to you, that doesn't mean that, no, whoever had set up facilities here, they are moving away. They are not doing that. Like, for instance, you take global capability centers. When, uh, when we took over 4 years ago, we found that very few GCC companies were around. But when we made, know, very conscious efforts to bring more such a companies here, because they provide very high-end, high paying jobs. Okay. So, we, we, we were successful. Like, for instance, today's data says that, no, we are in the second, the list in terms of hiring, okay, of spaces. Mumbai, they have, no, know, spend a lot more of money to hire space, and Chennai is the second city where, know, they get high work to establish, no, GCCs. And like, similarly, know, we, we started with complete, almost an empty slate on fintech. Now, we, know, we are building a fintech city. And that, there is already, you know, so many floors already booked. Okay. So, but, know, we need to build, know, much more to accommodate our student. But to answer the second part of your question, uh, whatever, know, you, you pretty well know that, know, like the manufacturer of Apple phones. Okay. We are number one. Like, for instance, the data about, know, the, uh, size of electronic exports, which was hardly a billion. Yes. Has crossed 15 billion now. Yes. How is it made possible? It's made possible because of, know, these kinds of, know, industries. Pakistan and Tatas, both of them have come here. They put our plant. And I don't know whether you have seen that report. No, the, uh, CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, has said that, no, our major supply chain will be from India, very soon. They're shifting it from China to India, which means it will come to Tamil Nadu. Tamil. But US President Donald Trump recently has warned that they'll be putting a 50% tariff if they are moving, if Apple is not moving their plan to US. You would have seen that, now, he, he announces one thing in the morning, and after a week or so, now, he changes his course. Okay. This is what you have been seeing right from his assumption of the government. Taking any effort to retain the Fox. You see the supply chain, okay, what we have developed here, and what we are developing now, okay, is, uh, as good as what they have in China, if not better. H. And that is one. Secondly, when you finally, what it comes to is the economics of it. Okay. Now, he is telling that, now, you shifted your base to America. The problem is, the supply chain is not there. You have to create it. You can't create it overnight. Even if you create it, the cost will be something like four times more, five times more than what you have here, or in Vietnam, or in, uh, China. So, they all know pretty well about that. If you take the Apple phone, yes, uh, about, uh, 65% of the value is with them. Okay. Okay. Another 5% or so are will go for transportation and all. Another 30% or so will be here. Okay. Okay. So, they have the major chunk. That is the most sensible thing to do. Now, if they shift the value systems, supply chain there, 90% will go, probably 5% they will have, or even less. So, no, they, they are not fools to do that.
So, coming back to our state economy. So, the state planning commission has also pointed out like migrant workers are key for industry development in the state. But state commission also has pointed out that, they are being discriminated and they don't have access even to government hospitals or to, uh, public distribution, basically ration shops. So, what are the measures have we taken to mitigate this issue? No, no, it is not that, no, we have, haven't given access to them. Okay. Like, you, I don't know whether you would have seen that interview in our Nana program, where she, that lady is from, or she gives birth to a child who couldn't, no, they, they're impaired, hearing impaired. So, she takes her to the local government hospital, and they, in turn, refer her to the district medical college hospital. When, when she goes there, they diagnose that and say that, they, if, if that child is implanted to the coach implant, the child will regain the hearing. So, that cost, I don't know how much it, earlier it was costing somewhere around six to seven lakhs per, per patient. Okay. So, that Mr. Kamis, Dr. Kamis, who was the one who convinced Ker to introduce the scheme. So, straight away, Kalinger gave 2,000, sanctioned 2,000 such patient funds for funds for the 2,000 patients. Now, it has been going on since then. So, that woman, the program says that, no, we, my child is hearing now, she, she can speak, that's because of this, uh, intervention, and we haven't spent a rupee. Mhm. So, it's not true that, no, they are not given access. They are given access. Similarly, for PDS, now, we, we don't deny cards to them. Yes. That is one. Also, there is a port, complete portability now. Yes. From anywhere to anywhere, now you can access the PDS, PDS. But the problem here is, now, we have about 2.25 crore cards in Tamil Nadu, and it's hardly 20, 25,000 now, who have bring their, who have brought their card here. I asked the commissioner, what's happening? They say that, uh, since most of the migrants are single migrants, they live behind the family there. Yeah. So, they would prefer to have the card there rather than to bring it here. Okay. Because, in most of the cases, providing food is an obligation of the employer. Yes. So, day before also, I have on board. Okay. Your, we provide, no, accommodation as well as food. We require laborers. So, that is the common knowing. So, then why do you bring the card here? So, they will leave, leave their, they leave the card there. So, only about, no, I think, no, 20,000 cards are, are portable now, have been imported here.
But what about discrimination? Uh, is there any discrimination? Our society is a discriminating society. Okay. Okay. You forget about migrants, even the resident, know, there are several layers of discrimination. So, this kind of discrimination, wherever you go, in the one name or other, there will be some discrimination. And when you need labor, okay, you don't discriminate. Yes. Okay. You go and, know, beg them, uh, and do whatever, and try to, you know, how many people have been flown down from, uh, the, from the, uh, when they refused to come after COVID, they sent flights from, they sent flights to bring all those migrant workers to work. This kind, the everyday moment, now, what will happen is, know, some kind of, know, this skirmishes will be around. And even Chinese who go to US face this, and those who go to Australia face this. Wherever you go, these kinds of problems are there. I don't say that, no, it's not there, it is there. But when society matures, I think, know, these things with thin ourselves. Uh, we haven't changed a bit. Yes, or changed a bit, a little bit, if not entirely. Like, in 100 years, we have changed 5 percentage. Ah, little bit, we have changed. There is, there is a scope for change. A lot more have changed. And that's what, now, we have been trying. Okay. Okay. Okay. Sir, thanks. Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insight. Thanks. For more such videos, stay tuned to the. [Music] [Applause] [Music]