In a first, Tamil Nadu government appoints four IAS officers as official spokespersons
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday (July 14, 2025) said it appointed four senior bureaucrats as its official spokespersons to disseminate information on government schemes and initiatives to the members of the public through the media.
This is the first time the State Government has drafted the services of senior IAS officials.
The move would not only ensure the dissemination of information on time but also strengthen public communication. The officials would provide information on key departments and also coordinate among the government departments to provide verified information.
J. Radhakrishnan, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Dheeraj Kumar, and P. Amudha, all serving as additional chief secretaries, have been appointed as the official spokespersons, a release said.
Mr. Radhakrishnan will provide information on energy, health, welfare of non-resident Tamils, school and higher education, handlooms, handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi, and Human Resources Management departments.
Mr. Bedi will give information pertaining to the municipal administration and water supply, rural development and Panchayat Raj, animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, agriculture, water resources, environment, climate change and forests, MSME, industries, and investment promotion & commerce, besides natural resources departments.
Dheeraj Kumar will provide information related to home, prohibition and excise departments, while Ms. Amudha will disclose to the media information concerning the departments of revenue and disaster management, social welfare and women's empowerment, welfare of differently abled persons, labour welfare and skill development, Adi Dravidar and Tribal welfare, BC, MBC and Minorities welfare, housing and urban development, highways and minor ports, tourism, culture, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, and special programme implementation departments, the release said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
6 hours ago
- Indian Express
A+ rating, Rs 1.5 crore in bank: Gujarat govt lays down conditions for grant-in-aid schools to avail funding for infra development
Five-star Gunotsav rating, bank balance or Fixed Deposit (FD) of Rs 1.5 crore, average attendance of 80%, and a board stating 'with the support of the State Government — Under Mission Schools of Excellence'. These are some of the conditions that grant-in-aid schools will have to meet in order to to avail the financial assistance for infrastructure development announced by the Gujarat government recently. The additional financial assistance will range from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore. According to the Government Resolution (GR) notified on August 8, laying down several conditions for schools to be eligible under this scheme for the one-time financial assistance, a board 'as per the approved design stating 'With the support of the State Government — Under Mission Schools of Excellence' has to be installed on the school building in a 'clearly visible manner'. Besides, the average result of the school in the last three years of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board examinations should be 75 per cent for non-tribal areas and 65 per cent in tribal areas. In addition, Gunotsav result in urban area has to be A+ grade (five star) in one of the last three academic years and A grade in the last two years, according to the GR. In rural areas, it should have had an A grade (two star) or above grading in one of the last three academic years, the GR stated. Such schools should have recorded average attendance of 80% or more in the last academic year, according to the GR. For assessment of government schools and its students, Gunotsav was launched by the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2009 in Gujarat. This was redesigned as Gunotsav 2.0 by the education department in 2019-20. The duration of the scheme for schools selected under Mission Schools of Excellence 2.0 for financial assistance for building classrooms and major repair works will be five years — 2025-26 to 2029-30. This amount is in addition to salaries and per student assistance already given to nearly 5,100 grant-in-aid secondary and higher secondary schools in Gujarat. 'After due consideration, it is decided to provide financial assistance to the aided schools affiliated to Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) under the Mission Schools of Excellence 2.0 with certain conditions. This is a major decision taken in the last several years that will impact secondary education in the long run,' Education Minister Kuber Dindor told The Indian Express. Stressing on the need for additional financial assistance, the GR states that since 'a large number of students study in the state's aided secondary and higher secondary schools, which is likely to increase significantly in the coming time… Therefore, the issue of providing financial assistance to strengthen the infrastructure facilities of aided secondary and higher secondary schools like government schools was under active consideration of the government.' Further, the grant-in-aid schools must have the value of movable property or bank balance or FD or investment in the institution or Trust to be at least Rs 1.50 crore in the municipal areas, Rs 1 crore in municipality areas, and Rs 50 lakh in rural areas. The schools will be required to submit a certificate from a registered chartered accountant regarding the financial viability. While priority will be given to science stream schools, girls' schools and schools with the maximum number of students, the schools to be recognised by the GSHSEB must have a school building owned by the trust. If the school has classes IX and X, the total number of students should be at least 50. For schools with classes IX to XII, the total number of students should be at least 100. Under the scheme, the state government will provide 80% of the cost of the infrastructure facilities to the schools eligible as per the conditions in the ratio of 80:20 with 20% of the amount to be borne by the governing body of the school concerned. The school management body will have to conduct a tender process as per the prevailing government rules and assign the work only to the qualified contractor. Schools desirous of availing the financial assistance will have to submit a proposal in the prescribed format to the District Education Officer (DEO) concerned by September 30 of that year at the latest. The proposals received at the district level will be scrutinised by the seven-member committee to be headed by the district collector and approved proposals shall be sent to the state education office with a clear opinion on the order of priority by October 31 of that year at the latest. The other members of the committee to be constituted especially for the purpose will have district education officer as the member secretary and District Development Officer, District Primary Education Officer, Executive Engineer, Roads and Buildings (State), seniormost education inspector of the District Education Officer's and District Project Engineer, Samagra Shiksha, as the members. 'The need for infrastructure facilities keeping in mind the number of students, evidence of availability of land owned by the management in the school complex, school management's undertaking to pay its contribution, structural stability certificate in cases where structural facilities are to be constructed in an existing building, and certificate from the school governing body that the works approved under this scheme do not overlap with the works of any other scheme,' are some of the conditions the seven member committee will verify, according to the government notification. The proposals received from the district level will have to be verified by the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan office in Gandhinagar and sent to the Education Department. The final decision in this regard is to be taken by the state government, the GR stated.
New Indian Express
15 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Experts express concern over declining Kannada medium schools in Karnataka
BENGALURU: The All-Karnataka Unaided Private Educational Institutions Association has urged the State Government to take immediate steps to protect Kannada medium schools and relax strict regulations imposed on them. Association state president Revanasiddappa Jalade and state honorary president CN Bhan-dari said that thousands of Kannada schools have shut down in the last 9–10 years due to 'excessive government rules'. 'Rural students are losing access to affordable education in their mother tongue because the state is not filling teacher vacancies and not providing basic facilities,' said Jalade. The forum alleged that many private Kannada medium schools have become weak and unsustainable. 'Our mother tongue must survive, and so must Kannada schools. But government negligence is leading to their decline,' they said. The association submitted a petition to the CM and the Education Minister demanding measures, including subsidising private institutions set up after 1995, simplifying conditions for starting Kannada schools, easing permission renewal processes, re-implementing the RTE for private schools, filling vacancies in aided institutions, curbing unauthorised coaching centres, and halting the replacement of Kannada schools with English-medium Karnataka Public Scho-ols. 'Our demands are simple: appoint teachers, provide infrastr-ucture, and protect Kannada medium education,' they said. The association will protest at Freedom Park on August 19.
Indian Express
19 hours ago
- Indian Express
Inside Track: Wheeling in Circles
At the start of 2025 we were led to believe that we were Donald Trump's special friend and that India would probably be the first to conclude a trade tariff agreement with the US. Now we are not just back of the queue, but could be blackballed! A close observer of Trump-India relations has a different take from others for the mysterious fallout. It was not initially about Russian oil, Pakistani perfidy or thwarting Trump's Nobel Peace Prize ambitions. Trump was infuriated with India's dilatory tactics in signing a deal, which goes back to his first presidency. His joint appearance with Modi in Texas in 2019 was meant to help seal an agreement, but talks fell through a day later in New York. Time and again, as in Gujarat February 2020, like the traditional smooth-talking Indian trader, our officials assured that a deal was almost through, without confessing candidly that some portions of the deal concerning agriculture and dairy products were non-negotiable. Unfortunately, Trump is focused on just this sector, since his Republican supporters come from the farm belt. As US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick remarked angrily, 'You claim to be such a big country and you can't accept a bushel of American corn.' After being re-elected, President Trump was even willing to overlook past slights. (PM Modi did not call or even telephone Trump during his three visits to the US during the Biden presidency.) But in 2025, once again, despite the head-start in negotiations, the deal has not materialised! Retired IAS officer Subhash Chandra Garg's new book is titled No Minister. The former Finance Secretary does not hold back in recalling riveting encounters with his ministerial bosses, some of whom, in fact, refused to take no for an answer, despite bureaucrats citing the rules and the wishes of the incumbent PM. Garg names P Chidambaram among the naysayers who, as finance minister, threatened then PM Manmohan Singh with his resignation unless his proposal that 60-70 secretary level-posts were allotted to the Indian Revenue Service cadre. In Garg's view, this unbalanced the bureaucratic structure without improving tax collection. Similarly, Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, on whom the Vajpayee government was dependent for survival, cornered more than 40 % of the portfolios of Indian projects approved by the World Bank in 1999 and 2000. Despite objections from the government, Naidu forced them to agree to his audacious demand, in disregard of fair Central resource distribution. Similarly, Kamal Nath bullied his way so that 5% of the total pool of government houses in Delhi was part of his discretionary quota, which largely included newly constructed category type VII and VIII bungalows in Moti Bagh. Considering it is an intra-party contest to elect the fairly modest position of secretary (administration) of the Constitution Club, it is surprising that the poll has attracted intense national interest and media scrutiny. In contrast, Rajeev Shukla (Congress) has been elected unopposed as secretary (sports) and Tiruchi Siva (DMK) as secretary (culture) without any rancour. There seems more than meets the eye in the fierce tussle between the two ill-matched adversaries for the post of administrative secretary. The jocular, down-to-earth ex-MP and UP Jat leader Sanjeev Balyan, who only joined the club eight years ago, appears to have been pitch forked into the contest, while Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the suave Bihar MP who has been the guiding spirit behind the club for the last 25 years, is credited with upgrading its facilities, including gyms, saunas, lounges and sports facilities. Balyan's most vocal campaigner is controversial Bihar MP Nishikant Dubey, who is fighting with all the vehemence and caste calculations of a panchayat election and throwing names of powerful central politicians. Pratap, more discreet, is believed to be backed by an influential regional satrap, who has not shown his hand openly. Amidst constant reports of Air India's slipping standards, I am pleased to report my recent personal experience of the airlines, which demonstrates that the staff's spirit of service beyond the call of duty, the hallmark of JRD Tata's original Air India, has not vanished. While flying back from Kenya on an AI flight, the senior air hostess noticed my distress as I rummaged through my carry bag and under the seat for my missing iPad, which had obviously been left behind in Nairobi. I presumed resignedly that recovering my iPad was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but I had not reckoned with the resourcefulness of the very helpful air hostess and the AI Nairobi manager. The latter, with the assistance of his counterpart at the Nairobi airport lounge, located the missing iPad, got it identified through WhatsApp photos and arranged to have it returned to Delhi within a week.
