Chennai: Governor R N Ravi presented a very dismal picture of Tamil Nadu on various fronts including Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that had come down from 3 billion US dollars in 2021-22 to 2.4 billion in 2023-24 and leading the State's ranking sliding from the fourth position to the sixth when other States had drawn more investments like Karnataka reaping 6.5 billion, Gujarat 7.3 billion and Maharastra 15 billion with Telangana and Haryana that were behind the State now overtaking it.
In a hard-hitting address on the eve of Republic Day, the Governor said the State fared very badly on the education front as learning outcomes in government schools were so bad that 75 per cent of the students were unable to read textbooks meant for second standard students and unable to identify numbers between 11 and 99.
Their abilities for addition and subtraction were also below par and that was a gross social and economic injustice committed on the poor, whose children attend government schools and were unable to make use of the education, the governor said.
Even the State universities were faring badly that 5 percent of the 6000 doctoral degree scholars were unable to clear NET or JRF, he said, adding that most of the universities were understaffed and salaries were not paid with the State government refusing to release funds.
The Madras University had been functioning without a registrar or Controller of Examination for about 10 years and the autonomy of the educational institutions were in jeopardy in general, he alleged. Most varsities did not have vice chancellors and were coming under the control of the State Education Secretary, he said.
Speaking at length about the alleged atrocities against Scheduled Caste people, Ravi said that they were prevented from walking on village roads with their footwear on and barred from entering public spaces and those who raised objections to it were brutally attacked, urinated upon and even murdered.
Scheduled Caste students were isolated in classrooms and if found to be performing well in studies were attacked just as civic body chiefs like panchayat president getting elected to posts were not allowed to discharge their duties and some were even denied a chair in official meetings, he charged.
Not only were crimes against the marginalized sections of society and women were on the rise, the victims never get justice as punishment for caste-related atrocities was just half the national average, he said, adding that hooch tragedies were on the rise taking heavy tolls while those who run those illicit liquor businesses were thriving and leading happy lives.
The Governor also alleged that terrorist activity was on the rise in the State and that the NIA had been cracking down on many groups with international links functioning in the State, which was a trend that had proved to be a threat to nation security, social amity and economic growth.
