Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government was committed for the all-round development of the state, in lines with the policies of late J Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said today.
In his Independence Day address after unfurling the tricolour at the Fort St George here, Palaniswami also said the state was performing well in social and economic sectors.
“In order to honour the freedom fighters who had dedicated their lives for the cause of the country’s freedom, their pension will be increased from Rs 13,000 to Rs 15,000,” Palaniswami said.
Hailing the contribution of freedom fighters from Tamilnadu, he said, the family pension provided to their kin would be hiked from Rs 6,500 to Rs 7,500.
Though the 1857 sepoy mutiny against the British was said to be the country’s first war of independence, a similar revolt had happened in Vellore in 1806.
He recalled the contributions of various freedom fighters like local rulers Veerapandia Kattabomman, Maruthu brothers, poet Mahakavi Bharathi, C Rajagopalachary, K Kamaraj and EV Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ in the country’s independence struggle.
The Chief Minister also announced a two percent reservation in select government positions for sportspersons from the State who win medals in national level games or those organised by the State government.
This will also apply to those from Tamilnadu who win laurels in recognised international tournaments or even represent the country there, he said.
A high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary will draw the guidelines for implementation of this quota in the state government departments or its run PSUs, he added.
Listing out the AIADMK government’s various achievements and proposals to ensure the state’s growth, Palaniswami said he has launched over Rs 22,000 crore worth projects so far, besides initiating Rs 16,000 crore worth ones.
The government was committed for all-round development in lines with the policies of the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, he said.
The State was doing well in social sectors like education, with the enrollment in higher education touching 48.6 percent, making the state “no.1” in this aspect, he noted.
The government’s focus on a “second green revolution” with steps to achieve this had resulted in the foodgrains production crossing 100 lakh tonnes for five times between 2011-12 and 2017-18, he said.
In the IT sector, the state’s software exports for the year 2017-18 was estimated to be Rs 1,11,179 crore with about 6.38 lakh ‘experts’ involved in the sector, the Chief Minister said.
Underlining his government’s commitment for industrialisation efforts, he said works were on for the conduct of the second edition of Global Investors’ Meet in January 2019. Later, Palaniswami gave away various awards, including the Kalpana Chawla Award for Bravery.
It was awarded to I Muthumari, a labourer from Valparai in Coimbatore district. She was honoured with the award for “single handedly” attacking and chasing away a leapord in May this year after it entered her house and attacked her 11-year-old daughter.
The Dhaksha (UAV) Team, Centre for Aerospace Research, Anna University was given the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award for the year 2018.
The four-member team of the varsity’s faculty was honoured for developing three Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems to be used by various government departments.