Dear Sasikala: Please Hear What Tamilians Expect From the New TN Government

Ever since it was announced that VK Sasikala would be the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu, the reaction from the general public, especially those in Tamil Nadu, have been vastly one of confusion. As thousands have taken to social media to express their concerns, we spoke to five people from the state on the latest developments. Here they talk about what they wish the government would focus on moving forward.

Sudhir Easwaran Maharabhooshanam

Photo source: Facebook

I think the new development might actually be a relief from the governance limbo that we’ve existed in for a while. But there are many things that need to be done as soon as possible. For starters, the government has to resuscitate projects on infrastructure such as the monorail and metro in Chennai. Also, it needs to get involved in deployment of the latest water conversation techniques  to sustain our agricultural output within available water resources. And importantly, there needs to be proper educational reform. Basically the education industry has been largely forgotten – lack of regulatory oversight has been disappointing.

Neharika Rajagopalan

Photo source: Facebook

The main priorities now are ensuring proper planning of urban spaces and cleaning up the city [Chennai]. The aspects of this include streamlined waste management, better sanitation depending on the amount of people living/visiting each area, and also regulation of street vendors who just seem to crop up and settle everywhere. Encroachments and haphazard parking should also be regulated.

Krithika Sukumar

It’s important to let people know that their vote actually matters. So it will be great if elections were held again. If Sasikala wins their vote, then people will know they have a say in what happens in governance. But apart from that, I wish the government would start focusing on finishing pending projects. For example, they should really work towards completing the metro. Also, given that farmers in Tamil Nadu have been direly affected by drought, they should be focusing on that as well.

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Haree Premnath

I have been confused for the past few months as to who is ruling us. So it will be great if the government was able to provide us with some clarity as to who it is that’s making decisions regarding the running of the city [Chennai] right now. Apart from that, I expect to have better connected public transportation. Since a lot of the roads in the state are already in good condition, I would like it if the government at least maintained that. Also, given that now it has become clear that the state has become prone to natural calamities, electricity lines should be placed underground.

Arthi Venden

Photo credit: Facebook

Putting aside all the displeasure, I wish this government gives priority to few important things immediately. As we have never heard the new chief minister speaking or taking part in any political movement, it is now her responsibility to appear on government television or a press conference and explain her ideologies, stands in important issues like farmer deaths, honour killing etc. We also need a proper mechanism to clean the oil spill that happened in Ennore and the government should take necessary steps to compensate the economic losses that are being faced by the fishing community. Also, there needs to be a sincere effort from those in power to bring justice for Nandhini, the Dalit girl who was gang-raped.

Here’s hoping the concerns of the common man are addressed.

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