Chennai: Economic slowdown and the drought last year had affected Tamil Nadu’s economy, chief minister J. Jayalalithaa said on Thursday but expressed confidence that the trend could be reversed.
In her opening remarks at the district collectors’ conference at the secretariat, CM said the country’s economic slowdown had affected the economic performance of Tamil Nadu as well.
“The severe drought in the state during 2012 impacted growth, particularly in the agriculture and allied activities sectors. We need to focus on making all efforts to revive economic growth and put it back on a high growth trajectory,” Jayalalithaa said.
She said she was 'quite confident' that with sustained and focussed efforts that her government was undertaking across all sectors, “the state would be able to achieve the growth target for 2013-2014.”
She also underlined the government’s commitment for an inclusive growth model covering all sections of society including the “most vulnerable and marginalised” ones such as the Adi Dravidars, Tribals, BCs and MBCs.
The chief minister exhorted the collectors to live up to the image of being the government’s welfare officers helping the people.
She inaugurated a joint-conference of the collectors and district SPs. The three-day exercise aimed at not just stocktaking of the functioning of all the district administrations and the police machinery over the last 12 months but also examining the future targets, will end with the CM’s meeting with SPs on Friday.
All the department secretaries and other senior bureaucrats, besides the ministers, attend these important conferences.
