Budgeting for a new vision

"CM Jayalalithaa unveiled Vision Tamil Nadu 2023, a document that lays the roadmap for improving social indices, infrastructure, and income levels of the people within the next 11 years. It envisages Tamil Nadu as India's most prosperous and progressive State with no poverty, where people would enjoy all the basic services of a modern society. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Budgeting for a new vision: Tamil Nadu already has in place a strong universal Public Distribution System. With a stronger social safety net, the State might well be on the way towards the stated target of poverty elimination by 2023.

But good planning and efficient budgeting are only the first steps in bringing about the necessary changes in the lives and livelihoods of the people. The toughest part, as always, is from paper and drawing board to field and finished product.

Those White Papers

When you want change, don't write one

Those White Papers

During the proceedings of the recent Budget 2012-13, Pranab Mukherjee promised to produce a white paper on black money. But history suggests that a production of white paper in the public domain seldom creates action and, subsequently, change.

-The Times of India, March 23, 2012

Muddy questions about Mullaperiyar dam

A purely technical matter has turned into an emotional and political issue between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The entire fight is centred on whether the water level in the Mullaperiyar reservoir should be raised by two meters.

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Muddy questions about Mullaperiyar dam: "The silt building up in the reservoir cannot be ignored for any decision on the dispute."


In any dam, silting - a natural hydrological and sedimentological process by which sediments flowing from the upstream catchment area in the river water get deposited in the reservoir -  reduces the life of a reservoir as well as its storing capacity. The cumulative accumulation of silt in the reservoir is not dangerous to the stability of the dam as it does not exert any dynamic pressure on the body of the dam.

With the passage of time, due to siltation, the storing capacity and consequentially the availability of water will  continue to decrease and the demand to raise the water level would crop up again.  If any decision is taken ignoring the silting of the reservoir, that decision is certainly not going to solve the Mullaperiyar problem.

Arresting tales of M. Natarajan

"AIADMK's powerful mystery man, a.k.a. Sasikala's husband."

Natarajan is in the news after being arrested on a charge of land grabbing, an action seen as part of an ongoing political purge following the expulsion of Ms. Sasikala from the Jayalalithaa household and the party, along with a host of family members. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Arresting tales of M. Natarajan

The latest arrest of Natarajan is unlikely to end speculation on what his real role is in the political drama playing out partially before the public eye and largely behind it.

Elsewhere, there may be a mystery behind every crime; in Tamil Nadu, the mystery is more in the arrest than in the offence.

Needed Urgently: An Education Revolution

Needed Urgently: An Education Revolution

"The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009+ test, which Indian students from Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took, are an indication of the abysmal state of our education system."

If India is to be counted as a developed nation, it will have to undergo, at first, an education revolution.

-The Times of India, February 4, 2012 

Emulating Gujarat, Tamil Nadu makes chess compulsory in schools

Times View - Imaginative - and winning - move


Counterview - A questionable decision


-The Times of India, January 5, 2012

Unwarranted fears on Mullaiperiyar

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Unwarranted fears on Mullaiperiyar

"There can be no question of Tamil Nadu giving up its rights over Mullaiperiyar. Its waters are not exclusively Kerala's, but an inter-State resource governed by the principles of inter-State rivers."

Two States and a water issue

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Two States and a water issue

"Reassure the people in Kerala on the safety of Mullaperiyar dam, and persuade the people in Tamil Nadu to accept a safe water-level behind the dam. Bring about an agreement through amicable negotiations."

A determined attempt to cleanse administration

The Hindu : Opinion / Interview : 'A determined attempt to cleanse administration'

Cleansing party and administration

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Cleansing party and administration:

Cool it

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article2717950.ece