The contribution of educational institutions and start-ups is critical for Tamil Nadu to get to a $1 trillion economy by 2030 and educational institutions need to be free of politics to do so, State IT minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said on Thursday.
“If you look at the progression of the IITs. They have become politicised and kind of fanaticised,” he said.
“The more you have apolitical, counterbalancing and well-designed institutions that ensure a level playing field, freedom of expression and smooth societies without dominance of anybody and suppression of somebody, you will have a prosperous society,” he added.
The minister was answering questions after delivering a keynote address at a symposium titled ‘Educational Institutions and Start-ups on Tamil Nadu’s Vision of a $1 Trillion Economy by 2030’ at Crescent Innovation and Incubation Council (CIIC) in Chennai.
In his address, Thiagarajan quoted former TN CM J Jayalalitha’s words – ‘Amaithi, Valam and Valarchi,’ (tranquillity, progress, and growth) and said government had a role in building a foundation for educational institutions to prosper but institutions, on their part, must keep both curriculum and graduate skills close to what the industry needs.
“The headcount of GCCs in TN is up by 65 per cent since our government came to power. 99 per cent of this came without any subsidy. The job of the government is to just get out of the way,” he said.
As for the State’s start-up ecosystem, he said that though there are a few success stories, TN needs “some big game-changing technologies” that can scale beyond the local market.
On the occasion, the Minister also unveiled a Compendium of Products made by Startups at CIIC and also inaugurated the new companies incubated at CIIC. The symposium was organised by the United Economic Forum (UEF) in collaboration with (CIIC).
Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director & CEO of Startup TN, Ahmed Buhari, President of UEF, Parvez Alam Executive Director CIIC, and Mr. Natarajan Malupillai, CEO of IITM Research Park were among others present at the event.
