Tamilnadu Model Part 1

I'm not sure where I heard/read this terminology: Tamilnadu model, I guess somewhere in The Hindu way back in 2012/13. Not sure, but I still can't find any other suitable word for this article. Why is the Tamilnadu model/ Dravidian Model very successful? Because TN followed the AAA model in implementation of all welfare schemes, actually the State is built on the basis of this AAA Model. 

A-- Availability A- Accessibility A- Affordability 

Yes, this is evident in all schemes. Let's take one basic scheme and see how it has been built and developed on the same model. Let's take Education. In early 1950s, the then Chief Minister of Madras Presidency introduced the Modified Scheme of Elementary Education also known as Kula Kalvi Thittam which encouraged students to carry out the occupation of their family as a part of their vocational training. However, Rajaji has closed nearly 6000 schools since it attracted opposition from Dravidian party leaders and even from his own Congress party. Which led to the emergence of Kamaraj fondly called as Kamarajar. Wait what?! Kamarajar in Dravidian model? Yes! Even Though he belonged to Congress Party, he was endorsed by Periyar for the post of Chief Minister and DMK supported him to contest from Gudiyattham where he won with a great margin and went on to become the chief minister. 

Kamarajar's primary task was to re-open the schools closed by Rajaji and to open some more schools to make sure the first criteria (Availability) of the AAA model is fulfilled. As a part of that he re-opened all the schools closed by Rajaji and opened new schools. Next task was a very big one, which was to bring all the students to the school. He had a role model for that who is none other than Sir. Pitti Thyagarayar (T Nagar was named after him) who introduced the Free Breakfast scheme in Schools in Chennai when he was the Mayor of Chennai (President of Madras City) based on the recommendation by M C Rajah. India started discussing free meals in schools only after 1990's, TN started that in the early 1920s. As a part of that Kamarajar re-introduced Free meals in Schools, this time he opted for Mid day meal over Breakfast provided by the Justice party. In 1956, he officially introduced the Mid Day Meal Scheme in Primary Schools in spite of strong opposition from their own party members/so called intellectual seniors. Kamrajar was firm. As a result, many students started coming to schools. Kamarajar added some more Higher secondary schools in many parts of the state. 

Then when Kalaignar M Karunanidhi came to power he was much worried about Accessibility, as most of the High Schools were in town/ district headquarters. It took miles everyday for a student to travel to school to pursue Secondary/Higher Secondary education so he wanted to connect all the Roads in the Villages to the District Headquarters. He started and executed in a few villages but unfortunately his Government was dismissed as a part of the Emergency.

 Then came M.G.Ramachandran who upgraded Mid Day Meal Scheme to Nutritious Meal Scheme thus he made students to fight against Malnutrition. And he did one more important thing that was allowing Self Financed colleges in Professional courses which revolutionized Engineering in Tamilnadu. 

After a long hiatus Kalaignar came back to power and he wanted to connect all the roads, again his Government was dismissed but when he came back he made sure that all the roads were connected, even the ones where even a road roller machine could not enter, he ordered the officials to lay Concrete road and made sure that all the villages were connected. Then the officials were confused how to connect these villages with bus services as the roads were very narrow, then he introduced Mini Bus which entered all the nook and corners of the Village thus he made Accessibility easier. But still no student used the Mini Bus then he realized that the third A - Affordability was an issue. So he issued a free bus pass to all the school students then extended it to Mphil students.

Then J Jayalalithaa came to power, she added a few more things to the Nutritious meal scheme. Then in her second term she noted that Girls dropout rate in schools were higher. She wanted to reduce that, so she ensured all schools were equipped with proper Toilet facilities and issued free sanitary napkin to the students. Then she noted that all the buses were crowded during school time so introduced special buses for women only and she wanted them to be independent so she gave them Free Bicycles. After all these measures Girls drop out rates in schools decreased sharply and most importantly Laptops.

From Breakfast to Mid Day meals then Nutritious meal scheme to Roads to mini bus to free bus pass to free bicycle to Laptops, they made sure Students completed their school education. Then they concentrated on Higher education, Kalaignar scrapped the Entrance examination which paved the way for Rural students to pursue Professional courses. Jaya made sure 69% reservation was intact and thus social justice is maintained. Scholarship for First generation degree holders, etc... And at the same time they followed AAA in Industries (Manufacturing/IT/ITES/Automobiles) to ensure that these students get employed. 

To be Continued...