CHENNAI: Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Sunday called on governments to focus on increasing people’s spending capacity rather than distributing everything free of cost while stressing that development also required active public participation.
Speaking during the Tamil Nadu Formation Day celebrations in Chennai, Arlekar said governments should work to improve people’s purchasing power, echoing a point made by Madras Institute of Development Studies director Suresh Babu at the event.
“What he wanted to say, and what exactly the prime minister wants, is to increase the spending capacity of each person so they can spend more, instead of giving everything for free. We have to bring some changes in our economic outlook,” he said.
The governor also said development could not be achieved by governments alone and called for people to take an active role in implementing development initiatives. Citizens, he said, should ensure that government schemes reached the intended beneficiaries.
Questioning why TN’s literacy rate remained at around 82 per cent-85 per cent despite its educational legacy, Arlekar called for efforts to achieve 100 per cent literacy.
At the event, Arlekar also felicitated Isro chairman V Narayanan, Chandrayaan-3 project director P Veeramuthuvel and others from TN for their contributions to the country.
Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Arlekar and leaders of various political parties greeted the people of TN on the occasion of TN Formation Day. “The hardworking and enterprising people of Tamil Nadu have made outstanding contributions to India’s progress. May this occasion bring happiness, success and new opportunities to every person of TN in the times to come,” Modi said in his message.
DMK president MK Stalin, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss, AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran and DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakant also extended their wishes.
