Secondly, Rajaji was an extraordinary genius. He was known for his sharp intellect. He could grasp any subject easily. He could pinpoint in a split-second the essence of any situation or problem. Because of such clear thinking and sharp understanding, his speech was also balanced, clear and to the point.

As an administrator he displayed dareness and a keen intelligence.

He was the Chief Minister of Madras in 1937. Then he introduced prohibition. This was being done for the very first time in India. But prohibition meant loss ofrevenue to Government. So he introduced Sales Tax for the first time. Many economists also welcomed the measure.

The farmers in our country were bowed and crippled by the weight of debts. Every farmer’s family was in debt, and the every interest on it was enough to ruin the family. A farmer was born as a debtor, and he lived as a debtor and finally died in the same conditions. To remove this pernicious evil, Rajaji brought in a new regulation. He banned the charging of unreasonably high interest.

As Chief Minister of Madras, Rajaji had laid for himself a very high code of conduct, others would have found it impossible to follow it. He exercised great caution to see that he and his Ministers remained untouched by corruption. He always went to the State Legislative Assembly ready to answer any question or supplementary. 
He had asked other ministers also to be similarly prepared.

In 1952, Rajaji again became the Chief Minister of Madras. He removed allcontrols on foodgrains. Several Ministers at the Center and also others thought that Rajaji had taken a wrong and hasty step. But soon it was evident that what he did was right. So all over the country, the controls on foodgrains were removed. Two years later he felt that the educational system in the State should be radically changed. There was great opposition to this. So he resigned.