Tamil Nadu is No.2 in economic growth: Govt report

The highlight of the week is that Tamil Nadu has reached 2nd place in terms of economic growth at the national level. The Union government's Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been publishing the annual production value of each state. The Department of Economics and Statistics in Tamil Nadu has published a report on Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) with the Union government's data on annual production value as a benchmark.

The GSDP report throws light on the state's economic growth achieved through the production value in the last 2 years of the Dravidian model of government. As per the report, Tamil Nadu's manufacturing growth measured in terms of GSDP at constant prices has risen to 14.53 lakh crores and GSDP at current prices has risen to 23.64 lakh crores.

The growth rate at constant price is 8.19% and the rate at current price is 14.16%. Economist and Professor Jeyaranjan sheds light on some unresolved questions. What is the reason for Tamil Nadu's growth? How Tamil Nadu bagged the 2nd place and why Gujarat was pushed to 3rd place? How is Maharashtra able to retain its 1st position?

Explanation to Tamil Nadu's growth:

Vice Chairman of Tamil Nadu Development Policy Council, Jeyaranjan clarifies the reasons behind Tamil Nadu's achievement in economic growth. Statistics from 1980 shows that Tamil Nadu's economic growth was on par with the northern states during this decade. Tamil Nadu's position was equal to northern states in terms of per capita income, measurement of poverty etc.

During the 1990s, Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana were ahead of Tamil Nadu development-wise. After the 1990s decade only Tamil Nadu augmented its development pace and now it is in the 2nd position. Instead of helping a handful of billionaires who start new businesses which makes the state look like a prosperous one, Tamil Nadu has become developed utilising a different way.

In the last 100 years, Tamil Nadu has made education universal. The percentage of higher education in Tamil Nadu is 52% which is the highest in India. In the national level itself, the percentage of higher education is only 26% but Tamil Nadu stands at 52%.

Universalisation of education led to literate people grabbing all the opportunities which in turn led to the advancement of the state's economy. To be precise, economic growth was achieved via social justice which is the sole motto of the Dravidian model of government.

In terms of economic growth, Maharashtra; Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are in the top 3 positions respectively but in Maharashtra and Gujarat, the economic growth was not based on social justice. If the human resources of Maharashtra and Gujarat are compared with Tamil Nadu, the former's capacity will be far lower than the latter one.

For example, when girl children enrolment in schools of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are compared, Gujarat is far behind Tamil Nadu. According to the recently published multi-poverty index, only 2% people are below the poverty line in Tamil Nadu as opposed to 28% in Gujarat and 26% in Maharashtra. Hence, data proves that Tamil Nadu has achieved even growth which is not the case in other states.

Despite the achievement of even growth, Tamil Nadu is only in second place, the first place is held by Maharashtra and the reason for it is Mumbai. Mumbai is the finance capital where all the corporate headquarters are located. Corporations operate in different locations but their accounts are filed through the Head offices located in Mumbai which is the reason for Maharashtra being in 1st place.

Reason for price control in Tamil Nadu:

While calculating prices in the market, importance will be given to what people eat on a daily basis. According to experts' prediction, 65% of the income goes to the procurement of daily food needs. Calculation for inflation includes Basket of goods which constitutes the food items consumed on a daily basis by the public.

For example, if the Basket of goods constitutes rice; dal and oil, then the procurement quantity and the price of these items are calculated approximately. Also how much is procured from retail shops and how much is procured from Public Distribution Systems (PDS) are taken into account.

In Tamil Nadu, most of the daily requirement is fulfilled by the products given via PDS which includes 20 kg of rice, sugar, dal etc. In the case of other states, the residents have to rely on retail shops for their food items requirements. "This is the reason why prices are in a controlled state in Tamil Nadu compared to other states", explained Economist Jeyaranjan.

Tamil Nadu has achieved not just in the financial sector but in the social sector too. Economic development via social justice - the motto of the Dravidian model of government!