CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday announced that a training centre with modern facilities that can accommodate 500 aspirants preparing for competitive exams will be constructed at Shenoy Nagar in Anna Nagar at a cost of Rs 40 crore.
Making the announcement in the Assembly, Stalin expressed satisfaction over the success of the initiative launched under the Naan Mudhalvan Scheme to support candidates preparing for UPSC exams. He noted the number of successful candidates from Tamil Nadu had been on the decline after 2016, dropping to just 27 in 2017. To reverse this trend, the government launched several initiatives under the Naan Mudhalvan Scheme.
These include providing Rs 7,500 per month for 10 months to 1,000 selected candidates preparing for the preliminary examination and Rs 25,000 for those preparing for the main examination. In addition, these aspirants also received training through the All India Services Coaching Centre at the Anna Administrative Staff College, the chief minister said.
Highlighting the impact of these measures, Stalin said 50 out of the 57 candidates who cleared the UPSC examination from Tamil Nadu this year had benefited from the scheme. The CM also said a felicitation ceremony will soon be held at the Anna Administrative College to honour these candidates in which he will participate. He added infrastructure initiatives such as the construction of the hostel in Anna Nagar are essential to further increase the number of successful candidates from the state.
Under the Naan Mudhalvan scheme, the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation already operates a study hall in Anna Nagar. A government-run hostel in the same locality, which has emerged as a hub for competitive exam aspirants with several private coaching centres, libraries and student hostels, will help candidates from underprivileged backgrounds to reside there and prepare for the exams, officials said.