Tamil Nadu's economic streak has the sword of demography hanging over it

Pioneer in many social security measures, the state now faces a future of compulsive welfare and competitive politics

Forty years ago, former Tamil Nadu chief minister M G Ramachandran made history by providing mid-day meals for school children in the state. Today, India’s central government spends Rs 13,000 crore (close to $2 billion) on a nationwide programme of this kind, on which states top up their expenditure. 

The southern state, which is going to polls at the end of March, has been a pioneer in several other areas, but also has an overhang of its welfarism on the state of its finances. While it is an investment puller, a manufacturing powerhouse, and well-known for its state-funded populism on