Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy at the ‘Kalviyil Sirantha Tamil Nadu’ event in Chennai on Thursday, September 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, on Thursday (September 25, 2025), alleged that the Union government, which could not accept the great strides made by the State in education, was seeking to create hurdles to its progress.“Our achievements in education have drawn the attention of many States, and they have turned towards us for inspiration. Their governments are studying our schemes to implement them in their States,” he said while addressing ‘Kalviyil Sirantha Tamil Nadu’ (Tamil Nadu that excels in education), an event held to highlight how various government schemes have empowered students and the youth.Mr. Stalin’s views were shared by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who said that Tamil Nadu was a leader in providing education and nutrition and sports, and that all other States were inspired by its education model. He also announced that he would introduce a breakfast scheme in Telangana.“The Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme, Tamil Pudhalvan, Pudumai Penn, Naan Mudhalvan, and the free bus ride scheme for women (Vidiyal Payana Thittam) are excellent, and the entire country must follow [their example],” he said.Mr. Reddy said the Chief Minister’s Breakfast scheme was a heart-touching scheme, as it took care of the poorest of the poor students, whose parents were labourers and could not provide food for their children.“The Telangana government is going to introduce the scheme in the next academic year. I take inspiration from here. The people of Tamil Nadu are lucky because you have the finest Chief Minister,” he said.Mr. Reddy said that after the advent of liberalisation around 1991, Tamil Nadu’s manufacturing growth and Telangana’s IT sector boom had made the Indian economy grow. “The Chennai-Hyderabad corridor became a critical industrial and knowledge hub,” he said.Noting that Tamil Nadu and Telangana have similar policies on social justice, Mr. Reddy said he had taken inspiration from late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, and would implement 42% reservation for OBCs and 27% reservation for SCs/STs in the local body elections in his State.Mr. Stalin said Tamil Nadu was ready to share its good schemes, and would contribute to healthy politics.He said the success of students in education and employment would uplift their families and the next generation. “It would pave the way for the development of the State and the country,” he said.Alleging that there had been a conspiracy for the past 1,000 years that denied education to Tamil society, he said reformers and revolutionaries had challenged the conspiracy. “The Dravidian Movement is the continuation of the revolution in Tamil Nadu, and it helped us make strides in education,” he said.Responding to criticism of the schemes, Mr. Stalin said the breakfast scheme had ensured an increase in students’ attendance. “Tamil Pudhalvan and Pudumai Penn have increased enrolment in higher education by 75%. A total of 1,878 students from government schools have joined premier higher education institutions,” he said.Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and DMK Parliamentary Party leader Kanimozhi also took part. Published - September 26, 2025 12:19 am IST
