Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, or PTR as he is known, is a politician with a purpose.
Tamil Nadu’s former finance minister who brought down the state’s fiscal deficit by 50%. Delivered on the Dravidian ethos of a just, inclusive society. Digitised the department.
He now heads the state’s IT portfolio.
Dynamic, measured, calm – yet “savagely articulate” as a Time profile calls him – PTR often commands attention on a national stage. Explaining Tamil Nadu to the rest of India. Laying out its ambitions to be a 1 trillion-dollar economy. Standing up for its welfare policies. Vouching to make Tamil Nadu the next IT capital of the country.
PTR’s family is rooted in the Dravidian establishment. His grandfather was chief minister of the Madras Presidency; his father, a DMK minister and speaker of the state assembly. At first, PTR distinguished himself away from politics. After his chemical engineering degree, he graduated from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and worked for Lehman Brothers and Standard Chartered as an investment banker in New York and then Singapore. With no initial plans to slip into the skin of a politician, he ended up returning to India in 2016 – and getting elected as an MLA from Madurai.
In the DMK, PTR is a contrasting figure. He is a man of faith in a party of atheists. But he also took on self-styled godman Jaggi Vasudev in a dispute over government control of temples. He espouses strong socialist ideals despite his long career in capitalistic industries. “I don’t see much dichotomy between thoughtful empathetic capitalism and hard-nosed, focussed socialism. It’s only when it gets extreme in its interpretation that the gap starts to widen,” he says. During the great financial crisis of 2008, he worked for Lehman Brothers and watching its fallout on ordinary citizens only solidified his views on compassionate capitalism.
PTR is looking to bring the same sensibility to tech. A man who takes pride in being able to uplift his constituents. Whether as finance minister or now as the Minister of IT and Digital Services of Tamil Nadu.
He is determined to return Tamil Nadu to its once-pioneering spot in the field of IT and innovation. It was one of the first states to set up IT parks and policies – and the first to set up a state ministry dedicated only to IT – only to fall behind Hyderabad and Bangalore. PTR asserts he will “drag Chennai ahead of those two cities. Just wait and watch.”
What’s more, he envisions other tech hubs emerging across the state. He’s sending delegations to study neigbouring Telangana’s policies and strategies. Drumming up investment. Advancing fin-tech and digital applications to streamline governance. Implementing new policies to upskill, reaching every village to narrow the digital divide, financially incentivising local tech startups.
Cutting-edge policies to meet the vision of equitable access and last mile connectivity.
India often straddles contrasting worlds with ease. Like astrophysicists who break a coconut before a rocket launch, this policymaker will have his temples – and bring his constituency to the 21st century too.
At SYNAPSE, PTR will present his ideas for a society that prioritises citizens over capital, and bridges temples and tech. A digitally savvy South. A transparent brand of politics. People-friendly public systems. And most importantly, necessary political action for a just, meaningful – and digital – Indian future.
