Tamil Nadu chief minister M.Okay. Stalin is a person in a rush. After assuming workplace, on May 7 he assessed the precarious Covid-19 scenario within the state and opted for a daring however unpopular determination. Putting lives over livelihoods, he imposed a fortnight-long lockdown from May 10 in an try to interrupt the chain within the unfold of the virus.At the primary cabinet assembly on May 9, he underlined the seriousness of the scenario to his colleagues within the cabinet earlier than despatching 22 of them to 14 excessive prevalence districts. They can be stationed there throughout the lockdown to supervise all Covid-related initiatives. Continuity and alter, a mixture of the outdated and the brand new has been the standout function of Stalin’s decisions for his cabinet. So outdated warhorses like S. Durarimurugan (irrigation), Okay.N. Nehru (municipal administration) and I. Periyasamy (cooperatives), now of their seventies and eighties however nonetheless energetic, are within the combine with relative newbies like P.T.R. Palanivel Thiagarajan (finance). Duraimurugan, additionally the social gathering treasurer, Nehru, Ma Subramanian (well being), E.V. Velu (public works) and T.R. Baalu (Lok Sabha MP), kind the core group across the chief minister. Their inputs, say analysts, would have contributed to Stalin’s alternative of ministers. Significantly, 15 of the 33 ministers in his crew are new faces.Before travelling to the state secretariat, Fort St George, for the primary time after the swearing-in ceremony presided over by Governor Banwarlal Purohit, Stalin cleared key papers consistent with his pre-poll guarantees. Beginning May 15, the primary half of the Rs 4,000 money grant can be distributed as Covid aid to twenty.7 million rice ration card holders by means of the general public distribution system. For this, tokens are being delivered to their doorstep indicating the time and place the place they’ll accumulate the grant. This will value the exchequer over Rs 4,150 crore. The state can even meet the medical bills of all Covid sufferers, even these being handled in non-public hospitals, by means of an current insurance coverage scheme.In protecting with one other promise, girls get free rides on state transport buses in Chennai and different city areas. This will value the state transport firms about Rs 1,200 crore in annual income. Working girls and women pursuing larger training account for round 40 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s bus passengers. Policy specialists say free public transport can empower girls, giving them better entry to jobs and training. Persons with disabilities and transgenders have since requested Stalin to increase them the identical facility.Another pre-poll sop carried out instantly has been slashing milk costs of the state-owned Aavin model by three rupees, with a corresponding cutback in its procurement value as effectively. Though they appear like fashionable selections, it’s within the implementation that Stalin’s administration can be gauged. Fulfilling one other key pre-poll promise, the chief minister on May 8 handed over the hundreds of petitions that he had obtained throughout the marketing campaign beneath the ‘Ungal Thoguthiyil Stalin (Stalin in your constituency)’ programme to an IAS officer, Shilpa Prabhakar Sathish, who has been appointed as Special Officer to dispose of those petitions inside 100 days. Stalin has arrange a separate division for the petitions and plans to launch a web site which is able to publish updates on their standing. Personal grievances which are past the executive ambit can be guided in the direction of different resolutions.The chief minister has assured an trustworthy and clear administration and asserted that the federal government is for all of the individuals. “I am proud to have got the opportunity to fulfil my dreams about the state, which is based on my experiences and meetings with people across Tamil Nadu over the past several years. I want to transform the state into one of the best places to live in the world,” Stalin wrote within the social gathering every day Murasoli on May 9, his first letter to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) cadre since taking up as chief minister. “I do not see myself as the chief minister, but as a frontline worker. I gear up for this work, keeping in mind the fact that governance is not a bed of roses but one full of thorns.”“Though this is a government led by me, the president of the DMK, this is not the government of the DMK party this government is for all the people, it will take along all sections of society without any differentiation,” he promised. Stalin urged partymen to work in the direction of resolving the individuals’s issues by taking alongside employees of different events in a spirit of friendship. “There is a lot of expectation among the people who have faced disappointments in the past 10 years. There is no point blaming the past. It is better to light a lamp than to blame the darkness. Rather than criticising autumn, let us invite spring,” he wrote.In the previous, the DMK cadre have been recognized to journey roughshod over opponents. Indeed, throughout previous campaigns, a relentless opposition chorus was to remind individuals of this. This time, although, issues may be totally different. Stalin has laid down the regulation and has already expelled a couple of social gathering employees who, after the election victory, ransacked the subsidised Amma canteens in Chennai demanding that they be renamed Anna canteens (after the primary chief minister C.N. Annadurai).At least thrice prior to now week the DMK chief has emphasised that this can be a authorities for all of Tamil Nadu, and never only a social gathering regime. Stalin appears to be severe about this, and the DMK authorities can be keenly watched to see if it succeeds in making it so. The chief minister’s preliminary strikes appear to counsel that he can be extra accessible to the individuals, in contrast to demigods reminiscent of M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa, or the fourth and fifth time period Karunanidhi phrases, and even speedy predecessor E.Okay. Palaniswami. Stalin has been a eager tourer of the villages throughout his campaigns prior to now decade, and will proceed his visits to the districts as soon as the Covid scenario eases up. “There is an undercurrent of sincerity and seriousness that has not been felt in the past many decades,” says political commentator N. Sathiya Moorthy.In the administration, Stalin can even must steadiness political pursuits, particularly with regards to a few of his veteran social gathering colleagues heading ministries. That is the place he can be examined however he is not going to fail for lack of expertise. The chief minister has spent near 50 years in public life; he’s been the mayor of Chennai, minister, deputy chief minister (2009-’11) and likewise the chief of the opposition in recent times.The financial system, jobs and training are the three sectors that want the pressing consideration of the federal government moreover the Covid scenario. The DMK ballot manifesto has additionally outlined the necessity to handle the state’s mineral wealth higher, indicating that the mopped up funds could also be used to assist ease the fiscal scenario. Covid administration and funding, GST dues, NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduate medical college students) and NEP (National Education Policy) are among the many points he’ll take up with the Centre on precedence. “Stalin does want to bring some freshness to his administration. He seems to be a lot more confident since he is not dependent on any quarter for survival,” says Ramu Manivannan, head, division of politics and public administration, University of Madras. “He will rely on the bureaucracy more than his father. The decision to change the names of some government departments is more than cosmeticwe can expect new directions in governance from this administration.” Stalin has additionally not simply relied on private expertise however passed by established credentials to choose the state’s chief secretary and the officers for the Chief Minister’s Office (see field: Calculated Change).Calculated ChangeThe Tamil Nadu chief minister is acutely aware of the truth that his efficiency in dealing with the Covid scenario over the subsequent few months may make or mar his time period in workplace. Going by the change of the state’s chief secretary and the selection of 4 IAS officers for the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Stalin has signaled clearly how governance is prone to be steered within the subsequent 5 years. He picked V. Irai Anbu to be chief secretary, overlooking the seniority of 12 IAS officers. Anbu is broadly thought to be a good administrator with a very good monitor file in sprucing up the federal government equipment and can be among the many few civil servants within the state who’s fashionable as a public speaker, particularly within the semi city and rural areas.Inducted into the CMO are T. Udhayachandran as the primary secretary, together with P. Umanath, M.S. Shanmugam and Anu George, the three different secretaries. The CMO retains the organisational construction of earlier ones that the AIADMK used. In different modifications, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, who was the favored district collector of Cuddalore throughout the 2004 tsunami, has been made the Greater Chennai Corporation commissioner. “His choices to lead the bureaucracy have been positive, identifying honest and efficient officers, some of whom had been cold-stored in the past 10 years,” says political analyst Sathiya Moorthy. “It is not about the choices alone, but the kind of message Stalin has sent down the line to the people.”So what can the individuals anticipate within the subsequent 5 years of DMK rule? Analysts argue that Stalin is extra acutely aware of his and the DMK’s picture. He will, subsequently, do all that it takes to strengthen the social gathering (he’s even tactfully saved son Udayanidhi out of the ministry). The chief minister can be extra emphatic about Dravidian id and can rally the social gathering on that plank. Within minutes of the swearing-in, Stalin took to Twitter to explain himself as ‘Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, president of the DMK, belongs to Dravidian stock’. On the playing cards is a paradigm shift in financial administration, with out dropping sight of the Dravidian social justice dedication, restoration of a clear authorities (even when in relative phrases), and attracting extra investments to the state than earlier than. “Apart from a stable approach to governance, a revival of Centre-state issues, stoking anti-BJP moves in the state and across the country and redefining development priorities will be high on the DMK agenda,” says Manivannan.Read India Today journal by downloading the most recent problem: https://www.indiatoday.com/emag