Tamil Nadu

State Governance, Economic Committees & Welfare Schemes

• Revenue Augmentation Committee:
  • The Tamil Nadu government constituted a six-member Revenue Augmentation Committee in July 2026 under the chairmanship of eminent economist and former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia
  • Objective: To recommend sustainable ways to increase the state’s tax and non-tax revenues, strengthen fiscal self-reliance, and manage an outstanding debt burden.
  • Core Focus Areas:
• Improving tax compliance
• Plugging revenue leakages
• Rationalizing tax rates, fees, and exemptions
• Identifying new and under-tapped sources of revenue
  • Other Members Include: Dr.K.P.Krishnan, Arbind Modi, Najib Shah, IRS (Retd), M.A. Siddique I.A.S., Dr.M.Suresh Babu

National

Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 

• Harsher Imprisonment Terms: For individuals found guilty of offenses (like leaking papers or tampering with OMR sheets), the minimum jail term has been increased from 3 years to 5 years, with a maximum sentence of 10 years. For organized examination fraud (involving syndicates or institutions), the minimum jail term has been raised from 5 years to 7 years. 
• Steep Financial Penalties: The maximum fine for general offenses has been hiked from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. For organized crime networks, the minimum fine has been increased from ₹1 crore to a massive ₹10 crore. 
• Accountability of Service Providers (Private IT Vendors/Printers): If private agencies hired for conducting exams are found complicit, their maximum penalty jumps from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore. The debarment period, during which they cannot participate in public exams, has been doubled from 4 years to 8 years. 
• Fast-Tracking Justice and Investigations: 
  • Time-Bound Investigations: All investigations—whether conducted by local police, central agencies, or the newly proposed Special Task Forces (STFs) must be completed within two months (60 days). 
  • Special Fast-Track Courts: State and UT governments must designate Courts of Session as Special Fast-Track Courts to hear these cases exclusively on a day-to-day basis. All ongoing cases under the 2024 Act (including the recent NEET controversies) will automatically transfer to these new Fast-Track Courts. 
  • Trial Deadline: Trials must be concluded within three months of the chargesheet being filed. 
  • Appeals: Any appeals against judgments or bail orders must be filed within 30 days and heard by a two-judge High Court bench, which is expected to resolve the appeal within three months. 
• High-powered Task Force 

• The Government has constituted a high-powered task force chaired by Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and founding Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) (2009–14). 
• Mandate: To recommend next-generation reforms for India’s public examination system by making examinations leak-proof, technology-driven, secure, transparent, and tamper-resistant through the adoption of advanced digital technologies and stronger institutional safeguards.