The Ministry of Palaniswami was the Council of Ministers, headed by Edappadi K. Palaniswami, that was formed after the fifteenth legislative assembly election, which was held on 16th of May 2016. The results of the election were announced on 19 May 2016, and this led to the formation of the 15th Assembly. On 16 February 2017, the Council took office.31-member Palaniswami cabinet to be sworn-in at 4.30pm He was selected as CM by VK Sasikala
Constitutional requirement For the Council of Ministers to aid and advise Governor According to Article 163 of the Indian Constitution,
This means that the Ministers serve under the pleasure of the Governor and he/she may remove them, on the advice of the Chief Minister, whenever they want.
The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor:Provided that in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, there shall be a Minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and backward classes or any other work.
Council of Ministers
S.NoName ConstituencyDesignationDepartments Party 1. K. PalaniswamiEdappadiChief Minister of Tamil NaduPublic Home. Police Indian Administrative Service Indian Police Service Indian Forest Service General Administration. District Revenue Officers. Irrigation . Programme Works. Public Works. Highways and Minor Ports. Departments not allocated to any other MinisterAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 2.O. Panneerselvam BodinayakkanurDeputy Chief Minister of Tamil NaduFinance. Planning. Legislative Assembly Elections. Passports. Housing Rural Housing and Housing Development. Slum Clearance Board and Accommodation Control. Town Planning. Urban Development. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. 3. C. Sreenivaasan DindigulMinister for ForestsForests. 4. K. A. Sengottaiyan GobichettipalayamMinister for School Education and Youth Welfare & SportsSchool Education. Youth Welfare and Sports. 5. K. Raju Madurai WestMinister for Co-operationCo-operation. Statistics. Ex-Servicemen Welfare. 6. P. Thangamani KumarapalayamMinister for Electricity and Prohibition & ExciseElectricity. Prohibition and Excise. Non-Conventional Energy. Molasses 7.S. P. VelumaniThondamuthurMinister for Local Administration and Rural DevelopmentMunicipal Administration. Rural Development. Panchayats and Panchayat Unions. Poverty Alleviation Programmes. Rural Indebtedness. Urban and Rural Water Supply. Implementation of Special Programme. 8.D. JayakumarRoyapuramMinister for FisheriesFisheries. Personnel. Administrative Reforms. 9.C. Ve. ShanmugamVillupuramMinister for LawLaw. Courts and Prisons. Mines and Minerals. 10.K. P. AnbalaganPalacodeMinister for Higher Education and AgricultureHigher Education. Technical Education. Electronics. Science and Technology. Agriculture. Agricultural Engineering. Agro Service Co-operatives. Horticulture. Sugarcane Cess. Sugarcane Development and Waste Land Development. 11.V. SarojaRasipuramMinister for Social WelfareSocial Welfare. Women's and Children's Welfare. Orphanages and Correctional Administration. Integrated Child Development. 12.M. C. SampathCuddaloreMinister for IndustriesIndustries. Steel Control. 13.K. C. KaruppannanBhavaniMinister for EnvironmentEnvironment and Pollution Control. 14.R. KamarajNannilamMinister for Food & Civil SuppliesFood. Civil Supplies. Consumer Protection. Price Control. 15.O. S. ManianVedaranyamMinister for Handlooms & TextilesHandlooms and Textiles. 16.K. RadhakrishnanUdumalaipettaiMinister for Animal HusbandryAnimal Husbandry. 17.C. VijayabaskarViralimalaiMinister for Health & Family WelfareHealth. Medical Education. Family Welfare. 18.C. RajuKovilpattiMinister for Information & PublicityInformation and Publicity. Film Technology and Cinematograph Act. Stationery and Printing Government Press. 19.R. B. Udhaya KumarTirumangalamMinister for Revenue and Information TechnologyRevenue. District Revenue Establishment. Deputy Collectors. Weights and Measures. Debt Relief including Legislation on Money lending. Chits. Registration of Companies and Disaster Management. Information Technology. 20.N. NatarajanTiruchirappalli EastMinister for TourismTourism. Tourism Development Corporation. 21.K.C. VeeramaniJolarpetMinister for Commercial Taxes & RegistrationCommercial Taxes. Registration and Stamp Act. 22.K. T. Rajenthra BhalajiSivakasiMinister for Milk & Dairy DevelopmentMilk and Dairy Development. 23.P. BenjaminMaduravoyalMinister for Micro, Small and Medium EnterprisesRural Industries. Small Industries. 24.M. R. VijayabhaskarKarurMinister for TransportTransport. Nationalised Transport and Motor Vehicles Act. 25.Nilofer KafeelVaniyambadiMinister for Labour & EmploymentLabour. Population. Employment and Training. Newsprint Control. Census. Urban and Rural Employment Wakf Board. 26.V. M. RajalakshmiSankarankoilMinister for Adi Dravidar WelfareAdi Dravidar Welfare. Hill Tribes and Bonded Labour. 27.K. PandiarajanAvadiMinister for Tamil Development and ArchaeologyTamil Official Language and Tamil Culture. Archaeology. 28.G. BaskaranSivagangaMinister for Village IndustriesKhadi and Village Industries Board. Bhoodan and Gramadhan. 29.S. RamachandranAraniMinister for Hindu Religious & Charitable EndowmentsHindu Religious. Charitable Endowments. 30.S. ValarmathiSrirangamMinister for Backward Classes and Minorities WelfareBackward Classes. Most Backward Classes and Denotified Communities. Overseas Indians. Refugees and Evacuees and Minorities Welfare.
Cabinet Reshuffles 21 August 2017
+S.NoName of the MinisterExisting DesignationProposed DesignationProposed allocation of portfolios1.O. PanneerselvamDeputy Chief Minister of Tamil NaduFinance. Planning. Legislative Assembly Elections. Passports. Housing Rural Housing and Housing Development. Slum Clearance Board and Accommodation Control. Town Planning. Urban Development. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.2.K. PandiarajanMinister for Tamil Development and ArchaeologyTamil Official Language and Tamil Culture. Archaeology.3. K. A. SengottaiyanMinister for School Education and Youth Welfare & SportsMinister for School Education School Education.4.D. JayakumarMinister for Finance and FisheriesMinister for FisheriesFisheries. Personnel. Administrative Reforms.5.C. Ve. ShanmugamMinister for LawMinister for LawLaw. Courts and Prisons. Mines and Minerals.6.M. C. SampathMinister for IndustriesMinister for IndustriesIndustries Steel Control7.K. RadhakrishnanMinister for Housing and Urban DevelopmentMinister for Animal HusbandryAnimal Husbandry8.S. RamachandranMinister for Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments and Tamil DevelopmentMinister for Hindu Religious & Charitable EndowmentsHindu Religious Charitable Endowments9.P. Balakrishna ReddyMinister for Animal HusbandryMinister for Youth Welfare & SportsYouth Welfare and Sports.
26 March 2019
+S.NoName of the MinisterExisting DesignationProposed DesignationProposed allocation of portfolios1.P. Balakrishna ReddyMinister for Youth Welfare & Sports2. K. A. SengottaiyanMinister for School EducationMinister for School Education and Youth Welfare & SportsSchool Education. Youth Welfare and Sports.
7 August 2019
+S.NoName of the MinisterExisting DesignationProposed DesignationProposed allocation of portfolios1.M. ManikandanMinister for Information Technology2.R. B. Udhaya KumarMinister for RevenueMinister for Revenue and Information TechnologyRevenue. District Revenue Establishment. Deputy Collectors. Weights and Measures. Debt Relief including Legislation on Money lending. Chits. Registration of Companies and Disaster Management. Information Technology.
31 October 2020
+S.NoName of the Minister.Existing DesignationProposed DesignationProposed allocation of portfolios1.R. DoraikannuMinister for Agriculture2.K. P. AnbalaganMinister for Higher EducationMinister for Higher Education and AgricultureHigher Education. Technical Education. Electronics. Science and Technology. Agriculture. Agricultural Engineering. Agro Service Co-operatives. Horticulture. Sugarcane Cess. Sugarcane Development and Waste Land Development.
Demographics of the Council of Ministers
Cabinet by District +S.NoDistrictMinistersName of Ministers1.Ariyalur - -2.Chengalpattu - -3.Chennai2P. Benjamin D. Jayakumar4.Coimbatore 1S. P. Velumani5.Cuddalore1M. C. Sampath6.Dharmapuri 1K. P. Anbalagan7.Dindigul1C. Sreenivaasan8.Erode2K. A. Sengottaiyan K. C. Karuppannan9.Kallakurichi - -10.Kanchipuram - -11.Kanniyakumari - -12.Karur1M. R. Vijayabhaskar13.Krishnagiri - -14.Madurai2 K. Raju R. B. Udhayakumar15.Mayiladuthurai - -16.Nagapattinam1O. S. Manian17.Namakkal2P. Thangamani V. Saroja18.Nilgiris - -19.Perambalur - -20.Pudukkottai1C. Vijayabaskar21.Ramanathapuram - -22.Ranipet - -23.Salem1K. Palaniswami24.Sivagangai 1 G. Baskaran25.Tenkasi1V. M. Rajalakshmi26.Thanjavur - -27.Theni1O. Panneerselvam28.Thoothukudi1C. Raju29.Tiruchirappalli2N. Natarajan S. Valarmathi30.Tirunelveli - -31.Tirupathur2K. C. Veeramani Nilofer Kafeel32.Tiruppur1K. Radhakrishnan33.Tiruvallur1K. Pandiarajan34.Tiruvannamalai1S. Ramachandran35.Tiruvarur1R. Kamaraj36.Vellore - -37.Viluppuram1C. Ve. Shanmugam38.Virudhunagar1K. T. Rajenthra Bhalaji
Achievements
The Government introduced various schemes like Kudimaramaththu Work similar to Telangana's Mission Kakatiya, FAME India scheme and Amma Patrol in Tamil Nadu to ascertain the security of women and children in public places. In response to the introduction of mandatory NEET exams starting in 2017, Palaniswami government formed a high-level committee led by M. Anandakrishnan in May that year to reform the Tamil Nadu school education system. The school textbook syllabus and exam pattern for classes 1 to 12 were revised on par with CBSE standards in phases, starting from the 2018–19 academic year, to better prepare students for competitive exams.
On 15 August 2018, Palaniswami Government announced a 2% sub-quota in select government jobs and State Public Sector Undertakings for national, state, and international-level medal-winning sportspersons in games organized by recognized federations, later increasing it to 3% on 16 October 2018.
In 2019, The Chief Minister went on a 13-day tour in the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates to promote foreign investment in Tamil Nadu. While there he launched the Yaadhum Oore programme (lit. all countries, based on Purananuru 192) to encourage the Tamil diaspora to re-invest in Tamil Nadu. During trip he secured 3 lakh crores worth of foreign investment, a greater amount than even his predecessor Jayalalithaa did. His administration created new districts such as Tenkasi, Kallakurichi, Tirupattur, Ranipet and Chengalpattu in 2019, and Mayiladuthurai in 2020, by carving them out from existing districts. After six decades of waiting by the people, Palaniswami laid the foundation stone for the ₹1,652-crore Athikadavu–Avinashi Groundwater Recharge and Drinking Water Supply Scheme on 28 February 2019, and the project work commenced on 25 December that year.
In February 2020, Palaniswami led Tamil Nadu government declared the Cauvery delta region as a Protected Special Agriculture Zone. The announcement was widely hailed by political parties and farmers organisations.