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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday, September 25, accused the Union government of placing hurdles in the State’s education policy, even as several other States were seeking to replicate its model.
Speaking at Kalviyil Sirantha Tamil Nadu (Tamil Nadu that Excels in Education) in Chennai, Stalin said the State’s achievements in education had drawn nationwide attention. “Other States are studying our initiatives and adapting them. But the Union government, unable to accept our progress, is trying to block us,” he said.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who participated in the event, announced that his government would introduce the breakfast scheme for schoolchildren from the next academic year, inspired by Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme.
“This scheme is touching; it helps children from the poorest families who come to school hungry. The people of Tamil Nadu are lucky because you have the finest Chief Minister,” he said.
He also praised other Tamil Nadu schemes including Naan Mudhalvan, Pudhumai Penn, and Tamil Pudhalvan, and said his government had already implemented Tamil Nadu’s free bus travel for women through the Mahalakshmi scheme.
The Telangana CM also announced that he would establish a Sports University and academies with a Rs 500 crore corpus, along with a Young India Skills University under a public-private partnership model to align training with jobs.
He added, “Tamil Nadu and Telangana should work together to ensure India wins gold medals at the 2028 Olympics. Since Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are not doing their job, I will take it up myself.”
Stalin said student attendance had increased after the introduction of the breakfast programme, while Pudhumai Penn and Tamil Pudhalvan had boosted higher education enrolment, with 75% of government school students who complete Class XII now going on to colleges.
In the past four years, 1,878 government school students have secured admission to premier higher education institutions, he added.
Stalin further said that Tamil Nadu too was ready to adopt the best schemes from Telangana. But he warned that Union-level attempts to derail the State’s progress would fail. “We must instil fear in those who, unable to bear our growth, try to obstruct us. Our schemes and achievements will make that happen,” he said.