Editorial: Balancing growth and welfare

The TVK government’s first budget strives to push all the right buttons, especially when it comes to catering to its voter base of women and young people, but not at the cost of overall development. The Tamil Nadu state budget for 2026-27 rightly continues with the longstanding unique strategy of giving due importance to both economic development and social welfare and justice, which sets the state apart from others.

The TVK has come to power after making several welfare-oriented promises. Two popular and somewhat populist schemes targeting women have been announced with allocations of over Rs 1,300 crore. These gold assistance schemes will benefit eligible women getting married and mothers giving birth to babies in government hospitals. Both schemes have a larger gender and public health dimension, indirectly reducing expenditure and increasing savings. The newborn babies scheme, for instance, incentivises deliveries in government hospitals, thereby reducing out-of-pocket expenses otherwise incurred in private hospitals. This is particularly significant given that the state has good government healthcare infrastructure, which already accounts for about 50% of the total deliveries in the state.

Since TVK raised a hue and cry about the alleged lack of safety for women and children under DMK rule, after coming to power, it has launched an all-women special action police force. In this budget, Rs 354 crore was allocated for the Singapenn task force. To give credit where it is due, previous governments have been pioneers in establishing women-centric policing through all-women police stations and dedicated Amma Patrol or Pink Patrol squads.

The TVK party has a huge fan following among children and youth. Furthermore, Tamil Nadu has a long tradition of focusing on educational development, especially school education. Accordingly, the budget has announced an impressive allocation of Rs 44,527 crore, alongside other attractive schemes like free laptops, an expanded breakfast scheme, and substantial investments to upgrade school infrastructure and hostels, in addition to building 200 integrated hostels with a capacity to accommodate a lakh students. The previous government had launched its flagship skill development initiative called the Naan Mudhalvan scheme with much fanfare. On its part, the TVK government has announced its own Vetri Skill Development scheme, which will impart industry-aligned, job-oriented skills to over 13 lakh youth. These schemes should help tackle growing unemployment among educated youth.

Tamil Nadu has been facing stiff competition from the neighbouring states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, which have been aggressively chasing investments by promoting themselves as technology hubs. This budget includes substantial allocations for setting up state-of-the-art industrial infrastructure in backward districts, fostering the space sector in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli (initiated by the previous government), and developing transport infrastructure and logistics parks.

Political competition, rivalry, and concomitant rhetorical barbs apart, TVK should continue with the good initiatives of previous governments and build on them with its own innovative ideas and strategy. For a newly formed political party with a team comprising many newcomers, TVK is quickly learning the ropes, as is evident in its first budget. The party, however, will have to brace itself for more intense, critical scrutiny when it comes to the actual implementation of its schemes in pursuit of its ambitious goal of transforming the state into a $1.5 trillion economy.