Tamil Nadu Launches Scheme To Provide Rs 1,000 Monthly Aid To Women

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin today launched the registration process to provide Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to women, the ruling DMK's key poll promise being fulfilled ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The scheme will benefit nearly 1 crore women in the state and will be implemented from September 15, the birth anniversary of DMK founder CN Annadurai. The state government has allotted Rs 7,000 crore for the exercise this year.

Launching special registration camps in Dharmapuri district, Chief Minister Stalin said, "This is in recognition of the lifetime selfless work of women. There would be a renaissance in the life and families of crores of women; poverty would be eradicated. This will help women to live with self-respect."

This scheme will benefit the women heads of families, with the state government giving a list of criteria to determine eligible women.

While the government broadly targets women street vendors, fisherfolk women, those in the construction industry, and women earning meagre incomes working as domestic help at more than one home, it excludes women in families earning more than Rs 2.5 lakh annually, those consuming more than 3,600 units of electricity annually and those owning a four-wheeler. Besides, only families that own less than 5 acres of wetland or 10 acres of dryland would be eligible to benefit from the scheme.

This scheme was originally the brainchild of actor-politician Kamal Haasan. He had announced this as part of his party Makkal Needhi Maiam's (MNM) election manifesto in 2021 before the DMK released its manifesto.

The opposition AIADMK and BJP have been critical of the ruling party for what they call "nonpayment of this assistance to all women heads of families".