The Tamil Nadu government is in the process of converting at least 14 government-controlled societies into companies registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, in a bid to improve their functions and make them available for scrutiny by various auditing mechanisms.
Three decades-old Guidance (formerly known as the Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau), the nodal agency with the specific mandate of investment promotion and facilitation in the State, is among the societies undergoing the conversion. Tamil Nadu Text Book and Educational Services Corporation; Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency; Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu; Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency; Zoo Authority of Tamil Nadu; Tamil Nadu Horticulture Development Agency; Tamil Nadu State Seed Development Agency; Tamil Nadu Watershed Development Agency; Tamil Nadu Livestock Development Agency; FaMe-TN or Facilitating MSMEs of Tamil Nadu (formerly MSME Trade and Investment Promotion Bureau); ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu; Tamil Nadu State Mission of Education for all Samagra Shiksha (formerly Sarva Shiksha Abiyan); and State Health Society are the other societies.
A senior official told The Hindu…
