Tamil Nadu has several distinctions, some good, and some very bad. Among the good distinction, is that the education system is far better than many other places. Among the worst distinction, is that the number of people consuming alcohol is now becoming a social menace, and threatens to go out of control. Since the Government collects a huge amount of revenue from sales of alcohol, it dare not disturb this equation.
Tamil Nadu also has another distinction, and a good one at that, if we were to consider it good. Simple. Over fifty percent of people of the State live in what is called as urban areas.
This has happened for several reasons, but one needs to understand the main reasons to appreciate what has really happened.
In terms of the number of districts, Tamil Nadu, might as well lead the country. There is a new district, with just around fifty kilometers separating one district from the other. This has lead to rapid urbanization, as just around twenty kilometers of land in the vicinity of each district, becomes an urban jungle -- new hospitals, a big new bus stand, and the consequent opening of at least a dozen new hotels, within a radius of just one kilometer from the bus stand, new colleges, new shops of all kinds, and even big retail chains which make their presence there.
The best network in terms of buses, helps in urbanization. Since the cost of living is high in the city, people buy one house in the city, rent it out for a good amount, and continue to live in their village, which is just around fifty kilometers from the main city. Since buses ply at any time of the day or night, there is a huge development all around. Each and every city, that started as a small city, can now boast of even the three star hotels.
Evidence of this development can be seen in one town called Karur, which is now a district headquarter town. It has three big towns, all within around one hundred kilometers from it. For example, Tiruchirapalli, the fourth largest town in Tamil Nadu, with an international airport, is just seventy kilometers away. Similarly, Erode is also just around the same distance, to the West. And Namakkal, another district head quarter town, and the largest producer of eggs in the entire country is just seventy kilometers away.
Namakkal is also famous for another dubious distinction. It has one of the largest "mugging shops" in the country. These "mugging shops" are nothing but schools, that emphasize getting one hundred percent marks in each of the subjects of Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry and Biology. The students learn by rote, and manage to even get the State ranks in the school final State Public Examination, and the success of these schools, with the results as their unique selling proposition, has attracted students from even Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, who study here, get the high marks and land up in some good engineering college in Chennai, or elsewhere in Tamil Nadu. It is common knowledge that the standard of technical education through the Anna University is slightly better than other those in other States. Hence, the huge rush.
Even the MBA course offered by Anna University, attracts many thousands of students from Kerala, and they manage to get some job or the other in Chennai. Development takes place through a variety of activities and higher education is a money spinner.
The second largest city of Tamil Nadu, that is Coimbatore, has the largest number of engineering colleges, and a fairly good number of them, are good in terms of skills that fetch jobs. So, even assuming that each college has a minimum of one hundred regular teachers, with a take home salary of fifteen thousand ( both numbers are on the higher side, in reality), the entire economy gets a boost. Since it is very near Ooty, the Queen of hill stations in India, and also called as Udhagamandalam in Tamil, Coimbatore has two five star hotels, with another two coming up shortly.
Coimbatore also has one of the largest bases for engineering industry and a very strong entrepreneurship culture. With a population expected to exceed thirty five lakhs within three years, it is a boom city of all sorts. In terms of wealth, the people of Coimbatore would equal those in Chennai.
Similarly, other small cities are also becoming big cities. The best example is Salem, which is just one hundred and seventy kilometers from Coimbatore. It has one of the best concentration of schools and colleges and a very vibrant agricultural base.
The people of Tamil Nadu are very proud of Madurai, which is the third largest city of the State. It has the world famous Meenakshi Temple, which is around five hundred years old. There are a huge number of temples in and around Madurai, and these are not only tourist spots, but are actually part and parcel of the growing trend of religious tourism.
There are some experts, particularly economists, who fear that the State might loose out on agriculture, thanks to the surge in urbanization. When one major economic base is present in one city, several developments take place around it, and agriculture is gone. The best example is Vellore, in Northern Tamil nadu. It has the best hospital for cancer treatment in the whole of Asia, called the Christian Medical College. Thanks to thousands of patients who visit it everyday, there is a huge service sector that has sprung. One can even find Bengali hotels in Vellore, thanks to the huge inflow of Bengali patients with cancer complaints. It attracts patients from Bangladesh as well.
Not far behind is the now world famous Vellore Institute of Technology, called VIT for short. This is reputed to be the best or the second best deemed university in the country. It has now developed into a class of its own.
These two parallel developments have lead to a huge surge in land values and hundreds of thousands of houses have come up on otherwise good farm lands. This is actually common throughout Tamil Nadu.
What will happen if such large tracts of agricultural land become houses and flats and houses and apartments? One shudders to think of the really dangerous consequences. However, the positive side is that the educated have found jobs in the service sector, and the self-employment ratio is increasing day after day.
One really wonders why this model of development has not happened elsewhere. Tamil Nadu may or may not be a really good developmental model, but the results of urban development are so evident.
What will happen ten years from now, is hard to predict. However, some new interest will come back to agriculture, hopefully. And if that happens, it augurs well, for the State and its people.