Chennai: Ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, the DMK-led Tamil Nadu Government has appointed four senior IAS officers—P. Amudha, J. Radhakrishnan, Gagandeep Singh Bedi and Dheeraj Kumar—as spokespersons for the government for the first time. The government will also launch ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ a public redressal system, that will be taken to the common man through camps.
The ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ (Stalin with you) programme will be launched by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on 15 July in Chidambaram, in Cuddalore district. It will continue until November 2025.
Sources in the secretariat told ThePrint that the measures are part of the state government outreach to people ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
“Apart from the popular schemes, including a free bus scheme and a Rs 1,000 financial assistance scheme for women, it was understood that there was a lack of awareness among the grassroots level people about the works done by the government. Hence, the Chief Minister has initiated such measures,” the source at secretariat told ThePrint.
Additional Chief Secretary P. Amudha IAS, who was the special officer for CM’s Public Grievance Redressal initiative, will be heading the ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ initiative.
Speaking to ThePrint, Additional Chief Secretary P. Amudha said that the government would be conducting 10,000 camps including, 3,738 camps in Urban areas and 6,232 camps in rural areas.
“It is a continuation of the Makkaludan Mudhalvar (Chief Minister with people) scheme launched in 2023, and the Mudhalvarin Mugavari (Chief Minister’s address) scheme launched in 2021, which received overwhelming response from people,” P. Amudha told ThePrint.
According to her, under the Mudhalvarin Mugavari scheme, as on 30 June 2025, as many as 1.5 crore petitions on grievances were received, of which 1.1 crore petitions were resolved.
Similarly, in the Makkaludan Mudhalvar scheme, as many as 9.5 lakh petitions were received from urban areas between November 2023 and January 2024 and 1.02 crore petitions were received in rural areas between July 2024 and September 2024, of which 95% of the petitions were resolved.
“The Chief Minister found that the schemes were very helpful for the people to get services at their door step. So, we once again conducted camps in the rural areas where SC/ST population is higher. Between January 2025 and June 2025, as many as 433 special camps were held in which as many 1.8 lakh petitions were received of which 1.47 lakh petitions were resolved,” Amudha told ThePrint.
She also said that the ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ programme will help people resolve basic issues like changing names and addresses in the ration card, voter id, Aadhaar, etc., through the camps.
“The Chief Minister has instructed us to send volunteers to inform the households a week in advance about the camp, details eligibility and required documents. Under the ‘Ungaludam Stalin’ programme in urban areas, we will be providing 43 services, and 46 services in rural areas,” she said, adding that the officers were instructed to resolve the issue within 45 days.
“It is not that all the issues will be taking 45 days, say for instance, some of the issues will be resolved in a day or two. Some issues like changing the name in Patta (land record document) and all might take a bit more time,” she told ThePrint.
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Four IAS officers appointed as Government Spokespersons
According to the official release from the State Government, the official government spokespersons would be disseminating key information about various schemes and other essential matters of the department to the public through media in a timely and accurate manner.
“The secretaries of various departments will provide information to the government spokespersons of the concerned department, who in turn will verify the information and provide it to the media through press conferences,” an official source told ThePrint.
According to the official release, J. Radhakrishnan will handle information on the Energy Department, Health and Family Welfare Department, Transport Department, Co-operation, Food and Consumer Protection Department, Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils, School Education Department, Higher Education Department, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi Department, and the Human Resources Management Department.
Similarly, Gagandeep Singh Bedi will provide information regarding Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare Department, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Water Resources Department, Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department, Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce Department and the Natural Resources Department.
Dheeraj Kumar will provide information regarding the Home, Prohibition, and Excise Departments. P. Amudha will provide information on the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Social Welfare and Women’s Empowerment Department, Welfare of the Differently Abled Persons Department, Labour Welfare and Skill Development Department, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department, Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department, Housing and Urban Development Department, Highways and Minor Ports Department, Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments Department and the Special Programme Implementation Department.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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