Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday elaborated on the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam scheme for women- one of the DMK’s poll promises that will mark the 100 per cent fulfilment of the party’s promises.
A welfare scheme, it will provide financial assistance to women hailing from poor families, under which each eligible woman is entitled to receive Rs 1,000 per month.
The announcement was made while addressing a gathering of women in Chennai, when Stalin assured that the scheme would benefit more than 20 lakh women in the state.
"I will tell you more. We have fulfilled 99 per cent of our assurances and the launch of the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam (Basic Income Scheme for Women named named late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi) on September 15 will mark cent per cent fulfillment of our electoral promises," he said.
"We will continue to implement schemes that benefit women," he added, re-iterating the DMK government’s commitment towards the welfare of women.
The Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam has been listed as one of the several welfare schemes launched by the DMK government since its presidency in the state in 2021.
The Basic Income Scheme is one of the the flagship initiatives of the DMK government and is expected to provide women in the state with economic security. The scheme is open to all women heads of households who are not government employees, property owners, or taxpayers. Although, applicants must own a ration card and a bank account since the financial assistance will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries on a monthly basis. The scheme is expected to cost the state government around Rs 7,000 crore per year.
The Amma Canteen Scheme, which provides affordable meals to the poor, and the Amma Two Wheeler scheme that provides subsidies to women to buy motorcycles are the other schemes on the list.
The DMK government was also lauded for its efforts in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. The state also boasts of one of the lowest rates of infection and mortality in the country. Stalin further referred to other welfare schemes launched by the DMK government- fare free bus commute for women in government town buses and Rs 1,000 financial assistance to college students who had attended state-run schools between classes 6 and 12.
Stalin instilled confidence in DMK’s ‘mega win’ in the 40 Parliamentary segments of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
