Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) is the wing of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

serving in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. The current president is K.S. Alagari. Social policy of the TNCC is officially based upon the

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

principle of

Sarvodaya Sarvōdaya ( hi, सर्वोदय '' sarv-'' "all", '' uday'' "rising") is a Sanskrit term which generally means "universal uplift" or "progress of all". The term was used by Mahatma Gandhi as the title of his 1908 translation of John Ruskin ...

(upliftment of all sections of the society). In particular TNCC emphasises upon policies to improve the lives of the economically underprivileged and socially unprivileged sections of society. The party primarily endorses

social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

(seeks to balance individual

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

Ideology and policy positions

Since the 1950s, the TNCC has favored liberal positions (the term "liberal" in this sense describes modern liberalism, not

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econo ...

) with support for

and a

mixed economy A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economie ...

. TNCC strongly supports

Liberal nationalism Civic nationalism, also known as liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism identified by political philosophers who believe in an inclusive form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, in ...

, a kind of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

compatible with values of freedom, tolerance,

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...

, and

individual rights Group rights, also known as collective rights, are rights held by a group '' qua'' a group rather than individually by its members; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by individual people; even if they are group-differentiated, which ...

. Historically, the party has favoured farmers, labourers, and the working upper class; it has opposed unregulated business and finance. In recent decades, the party has adopted a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

economic and socially progressive agenda and has begun to advocate for more

, affirmative action, a balanced budget, and a market economy. The economic policy adopted by the modern TNCC is

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

policies, though at the same time it is in favour of taking a cautious approach when it comes to liberalising the economy claiming it is to help ensure that the weaker sectors are not affected too hard by the changes that come with liberalisation. In the 1990s, however, it endorsed market reforms, including privatisation and the deregulation of the economy. It also has supported secular policies that encourage equal rights for all citizens, including those from the lower stratas. The party supports the somewhat controversial concept of family planning with birth control.

Economic policy

The Congress strongly endorses a mixed Capital economy in which both the private sector and the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

direct the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

, reflecting characteristics of both market economies and

planned economies A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, par ...

. A leading economic theory advocated by the modern Tamil Nadu Congress party is

import substitution industrialisation Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production.''A Comprehensive Dictionary of Economics'' p.88, ed. Nelson Brian 2009. It is based on the premise that ...

that advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production. Party also believes that mixed economies often provide

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

, maintenance of employment standards, a standardized welfare system, and maintenance of competition. The

party liberalised the Indian economy, allowing it to speed up development dramatically.

Healthcare and education

Tamil Nadu Congress Pioneered the first

Midday Meal Scheme The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in government primary and upper primary sc ...

in India in the Year 1953. This led to a huge wave of enrollment by students from the predominant rural and semi urban pockets of Tamil Nadu, which helped increase the Literacy rate of the state from 16% in 1947 to 82% in 2011. Today, it has become the largest schoolchild feeding programme in the world, covering 110 million students in 1.2 million schools. This rural health initiative was praised by the American economist

Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs () (born 5 November 1954) is an American economist, academic, public policy analyst, and former director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he holds the title of University Professor. He is known for his work ...

and former American President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. During the TNCC tenure, an IIT and was opened in the state.

Security and State Affairs

The Tamil Nadu Congress party has been instrumental in debating and helping strengthen anti-terror and vigilant laws leading to amendments to the Security Laws of the Tamil Nadu Government Departments. Also,

Unique Identification Authority of India Aadhaar ( hi, आधार, ādhār, lit=base, foundation, bn, আধার) is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained voluntarily by the citizens of India and resident foreign nationals who have spent over 182 days in twelve ...

was established in February 2009, with the help of the Central Government, an agency responsible for implementing the envisioned

Multipurpose National Identity Card Aadhaar ( hi, आधार, ādhār, lit=base, foundation, bn, আধার) is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained voluntarily by the citizens of India and resident foreign nationals who have spent over 182 days in twelve ...

with the objective of increasing national security and facilitating e-governance.

State Office bearers

AICC

TNCC

List of president of TNCC

List of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu from the Congress Party

Madras Presidency

Madras State

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election

•

Madras State Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...

was completely reorganized into the present state of

in the year 1956. But the name was changed to Tamil Nadu only in the year 1969

References

External links

INC Tamil Nadu website
{{India topics Indian National Congress of Tamil Nadu