Editorial: Off to a good start

Going by their first sixty days at Fort St George, Stalin and his handpicked team of ministers have left little if at all any, scope for criticism having taken the baton in the midst of a horrific second wave of COVID-19 at a time when people were literally gasping for oxygen and dying in ambulances, waiting to be admitted to hospitals.

From ensuring adequate oxygen supply for patients in critical care to multiplying manifold the number of beds available for the exploding surge in cases, as well as streamlining the sales of crucial drugs such as Remdesivir, Amphotericin B etc, the state government’s performance in facing the pandemic head-on and ensuring the situation does not go out of hand deserves commendation. Stalin, who has been an understudy of his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi for most of his adult life, has proven that all those years were not an exercise in futility. He has taken up initiatives that are one-of-a-kind in the country such as the formation of the Economic Advisory Council comprising top economists from across the world to advise his government on reviving the flailing state finances.

But running a state government is no sprint. With the second wave of the pandemic ebbing across the state and vaccine coverage on the rise, the challenges posed by the pandemic could subside, at least for a while, as more complex, long-term issues resurface. Stalin and his government’s handling of these will determine his place in history. Among the immediate challenges facing the government would be the state government’s handling of the NEET medical entrance exam this year. With the Madras High Court challenging the legal maintainability of the Justice AK Rajan Commission constituted by the state to study the impact of NEET and the National Testing Agency gearing up to conduct the nationwide exam soon, the DMK will have a tough time explaining to the Opposition and student community on deliverance, or not, of its poll promise of doing away with NEET. With the state government’s NEET coaching classes for poor students from government schools cancelled this year, those rural students who have been left in the lurch would definitely demand an answer.

While the state government has already sought more time in executing another major poll promise of reducing petrol and diesel costs citing the second wave-related expenses, Stalin is also likely to face challenges in opposing the National Education Policy and in formulating a separate education policy for TN. From releasing convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to opposing privatisation of banks, Railways, and other PSUs, fulfilling promises made in the 503-point mega manifesto released by the DMK ahead of the polls will prove to be the biggest challenge to the DMK government in the coming months and years.

With the BJP expected to saddle up for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections soon, the state government would be prudent in calibrating its expectations when it comes to active cooperation from the Centre. A lot depends on how Stalin’s carefully chosen cabinet deals with emerging situations without giving in to temptation. As Stalin rapidly moves towards his crucial 100 days in office milestone, he will have to use all the skills he learnt from his father-mentor Karunanidhi as well as play the balancing act with a canny and sometimes obstructionist BJP government at the Centre, to deliver on his promises.