CHENNAI: Divested of his favourite finance portfolio, investment banker turned IT minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan aka PTR on Thursday signed off his responsibility as finance minister and accepted his new role as the state minister of information technology in style.

Wary of the change of job profile, PTR who made even economy-ignorant people romanticize about an otherwise boring finance portfolio, posted a farewell message readily kept for public consumption.

In a message posted on his official Twitter handle a minute after the formal notification of the portfolio change, PTR tweeted, "The past two years have been the most fulfilling in my life. Under the leadership of CM @mkstalin, I presented one revised budget (21-22) during the pandemic. Despite inheriting record deficits and debt ratios, we have invested in a record number of social welfare schemes as well as record capital spending, all while delivering record-setting fiscal improvements. This is the epitome of my public service, and indeed of my life."

Expressing his gratefulness to chief minister M K Stalin for assigning the IT portfolio - globally the industry for investment and job creation today, PTR described fiscal consolidation and social spending are necessary steps for an equitable society, and said, "Though Tamil Nadu was a pioneer in this field in Thalaivar Kalaignar's time, we have unfortunately lagged our true potential in this sector (IT) in the last decade or so. I plan to build on the great efforts of my predecessor @manothangaraj to attract more investments, accelerate job-creation, and deliver growth at a pace that will re-establish Tamil Nadu as a leading state in IT."

"I hope my own experience in establishing and managing a pioneering Global Capability Centre 15 years ago, and the connectivity with the IT and ITES industry gained during my professional career, will enrich my efforts in this new role, " PTR added, wishing his successor Thangam Thennarasu "great success and many more achievements" and expressing confidence that he would accelerate the progress already made and deliver new records in his tenure. He also thanked the CM for providing the previous portfolio and new role.

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