“The TVK government’s budget will pave the way for progress in some sectors. However, the larger part of it does not take the people’s expectations into account,” said M. Veerapandian, the state secretary of the Communist Party of India, in a statement.
In the statement he released, “The first budget of the TVK government led by Joseph Vijay in Tamil Nadu was presented today. This budget for 2026-27 has announced several measures that give importance to education, women’s welfare, and employment opportunities for young people.

No announcement on job opportunities
Announcements have been issued to provide training in artificial intelligence to students and young people. However, there are no clear announcements about creating job opportunities.
The TVK election promise said that unemployed graduates would be given monthly relief assistance of Rs. 4000. The absence of any announcement on that will create dissatisfaction among unemployed youth. The lack of an announcement regarding the regularization of contract workers and temporary workers will disappoint a large section of laborers and employees.
The absence of any announcement regarding TVK’s election promise that the monthly assistance for women heads of households would be increased to Rs. 2,500 and that 6 cooking gas cylinders would be provided free of cost to households every year will also have a negative impact.
Angering farmers...
The breakfast scheme was being provided to students studying up to 5th standard in government schools and government-aided schools. Extending it to classes 6 through 8 is welcome. The announcement of 1,000 mobile medical centers for senior citizens is also welcome.
At a time when farmers are struggling for complete waiver of crop loans, the absence of any announcement on that issue will anger farmers.

This is regrettable!
The announcement regarding TVK’s promise of free travel for women on all government buses was also not included. In the previous 2025-26 budget, Rs. 46,767 crore was allocated to the School Education Department, whereas in this budget it has been reduced and allocated Rs. 44,527 crore. Reducing the allocation for school education is not right. Similarly, Rs. 8,494 crore was allocated to the Higher Education Department in 2025-26. In this budget, it has been reduced to Rs. 8,393 crore. This is regrettable.
It has explained that measures have been taken to prevent the corruption and irregularities that had been prevailing in the process of seeking contracts for government and government-related works, and to ensure transparency procedures. In this, it is noteworthy that contract work companies, regardless of the sector in which they are registered, can participate in the bidding for contract works in all government departments.
The government must take responsibility
Although this new method may create opportunities for contracting firms bidding for tenders to lower their estimates and submit bids, the government must take responsibility for ensuring that the quality and reliability of the work they undertake do not decline. As promised to the people by the TVK in the last Assembly election, the budget has focused on measures such as the “mother’s brother gold ring” scheme of one gram of gold, 8 grams of gold, and a silk saree for children born in government hospitals; training centers to help students face competitive examinations when pursuing higher education; starting an artificial intelligence vocational division in industrial training institutes in view of technological advancement; and encouraging the sale of electric vehicles.

Did not take people’s expectations into account!
Providing 200 units of free electricity to consumers who use 500 units of electricity in two months, and restoring the long-standing challenges of the Cooum and Adyar rivers to their natural state, has been promised.
The V.P.G. Ramji Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme recently introduced by the Union government has promised to provide 125 days of work per year. For this scheme, the state government must contribute Rs. 5,057 crore in financial support. In this situation, the budget statement says the state government will additionally add 25 days and provide 150 days of work per year, but allocating only Rs. 100 crore for that is not sufficient.
It has been stated that while the TVK government's budget may pave the way for progress in some sectors, for the most part it has not taken people's expectations into account.
