Vijay’s first 100 daysEducation and housingEducation has received a sizeable share of attention too. 14 lakh students in Classes VI-VIII across 15,414 schools.

Rs 2,000 crore has been earmarked for laptops for college students, while Class XI students in government and government-aided schools are to receive branded bicycles along with helmets and water bottles. Housing has also been folded into the broader welfare push, with Rs 3,500 crore allocated for the Vettri Housing Scheme, aimed at replacing informal and inadequate housing in urban and rural areas.

Farmers and employment opportunitiesFarmers have also been another major focus of the first 100 days. Vijay, while speaking in the assembly, announced that the government had waived agricultural loans up to Rs 50,000 within 15 days of taking office in May.

Employment and skill development have also featured prominently in the Vijay's report card. Under the Vettri Skill Training Scheme, the government says 12 lakh students and one lakh youth have undergone skill-development training.

The Vettri 150 Scheme promises 150 days of guaranteed employment. At the same time, the government has tried to focus on everyday civic delivery through TN-VETTRI, under which Rs 6,000 crore is to be allocated annually for improving water supply, solid-waste management, sanitation and rural connectivity.

Drugs, liquor and the law-and-order testDrugs and liquor were among the issues Vijay repeatedly raised during the campaign. To curb narcotics and gang activity, the government has constituted 65 special task forces called the ' STING'.

This network is tasked with dismantling syndicate supply chains, clearing drug networks near educational institutions, and tracking organized gang activity. It has also shut 717 state-run TASMAC liquor shops located near schools, temples and bus stands.

These are among the those decisions where the government will face close scrutiny, especially because law and order is not something that can be measured through the number of task forces created or shops closed alone. Free power: An early manifesto promise deliveredFree electricity was among the first promises that Vijay-led TVK government delivered soon after assuming office.

His government announced 200 units of free power every two months for domestic consumers using up to 500 units. At the same time, free power adds to the spending commitments the new government has taken on in its opening months.

How Vijay balances these welfare promises with the state's finances will become clearer only as the government moves beyond its first few months. Investment pushIf welfare has been one side of Vijay's first 100 days, the other has been an attempt to show that Tamil Nadu's investment story remains on his government's agenda.

The government says the Vettri Tamil Nadu Investment Conclave 2026 secured investment commitments worth Rs 1 lakh crore. For Vijay, investment is particularly important.

His government has announced a long list of subsidies and social schemes, and the investment push helps him underline that Tamil Nadu is also looking to attract capital and generate employment opportunities. The bigger test, of course, will come later: how much of those commitments actually translate into projects.

Karur still casts a shadowVijay's first 100 days have also unfolded under the shadow of the Karur stampede, the tragedy at a TVK rally that claimed lives of 41 people and injured more than 100. Since taking office, his government has sought to provide government jobs to the next of kin of those who died in the stampede.

The move became the subject of a legal battle after the Madras high court quashed the appointments, before the Supreme Court stayed that order earlier this month, allowing the state to go ahead with them for now. How his government handles the rehabilitation of the affected families in the middle of an investigation will therefore remain closely watched.

The bigger test begins nowWhile the first hundred days can be enough to show what the priorities of the government but it is too soon to tell how these initiatives have worked. Vijay has also tried to make transparency part of his governance policy, with measures such as speedier plan approvals and faceless property registration.

But here too, the real test will be whether citizens actually experience a government that is faster, cleaner and easier to deal with. All these measures have now moved to a tougher phase which is the implementation.

The government will have to show that welfare schemes actually reach beneficiaries, investment commitments turn into projects and jobs, and the focus on women’s safety, drugs and liquor produces visible results on the ground. There is also the question of how comfortably the state can carry a growing bill alongside its welfare commitments.

For now, the first 100 days have defined Vijay’s priorities. What remains unanswered is whether the pace of announcements can be matched by delivery over the next few hundred days.

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