Corruption, one of the limitations of Dravidian model of growth, says N. Ram

‘Government has to take deep measures to tackle the challenging issue ‘

Political corruption has been one of the limitations of the successful Dravidian model of growth and social development and deep measures are needed to address it, said N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited.

“The new DMK government under the leadership of M.K. Stalin has promised to find a new path. These are early days; we have to watch it. Corruption cannot be eradicated in a short time. The government has to take deep measures and it is a challenging task,” he said, addressing virtually the members of the Southern India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI), on the occasion of its 111th annual general meeting.

Fine balance

Speaking on the topic of inclusion, Mr. Ram said a fine balance between growth and inclusive development was needed. He pointed out that the recent book, ‘The Dravidian Model: Interpreting the political economy of Tamil Nadu’ authored by A.Kalaiyarasan and M. Vijayabaskar, had argued that the political mobilisation, resulting in social change, attempted to lower inequality, which made redistribution more natural and in turn helped achieve broad-based development.

Mr. Ram said he was convinced by the conceptual argument made by the book, backed by data, about social and economic development that had happened in the State through populist mobilisation against caste-based inequalities. Even though caste-based inequalities still existed, opportunities had been created in the State through reservation, he pointed out. Another limitation of the model was the State finances and the white paper had already highlighted the challenges and steps needed ahead.

In his welcome address, Ar Rm Arun, president, SICCI, said the organisation helped drive holistic inclusion amid the pandemic in areas such as finance, gender and healthcare among others.

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