The nation is under a massive health crisis, and when that settles an economic crisis could be another troublemaker! This is what many are telling in the recent days. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, experts have placed high hopes on the new Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, also known as PTR.
PTR holds a doctorate from University of Buffalo, USA, and he received his MBA degree from the prestigious MIT Sloan School of Management. He has been associated with international financial institutions like Standard Chartered and Lehman Brothers.
He comes from a family of politicians. His grandfather Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency in the 1930s. His reign was a short-lived one. PTR’s father PTR Palanivel Rajan was a former Tamil Nadu Speaker and a DMK minister.
The Print underlined “The state is reeling under high debt and a huge fiscal deficit. According to the interim budget, in 2021-22, the state is estimated to have an overall revenue deficit of Rs 41,417.30 crore and fiscal deficit of Rs 84,202.39 crore.”
“The state is also seeing a resource crunch with at least Rs 12,263 crore due (as of February this year) from the Centre as Goods and Sales Tax (GST) arrears. Tamil Nadu was estimated to witness a growth rate of 2.02 per cent in 2020-21, compared to 8.17 per cent reported in 2019-20.” The pandemic is the significant cause of the drop in the growth.
Experts have said that PTR’s education and experience will add significant strength to the State of Tamil Nadu in managing the economic crisis. As a person who has passion towards finance and economics, PTR is expected to give valuable ideas and insights to the State which is India’s second largest economy.
PTR is not a new-comer to Politics. His father proved himself as a DMK strongman in Madurai Central constituency. When he died in 2006, DMK Supremo M.Karunanidhi offered PTR the chance to compete in his father’s region. Till 2016, PTR hesitated to enter the political arena. In the said year, he competed and won the constituency. In the recent State Assembly Election he won the seat again by 34,176 votes.