From September 15, over one crore women in Tamil Nadu will receive Rs 1,000 every month under Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Scheme, which is being touted as the biggest direct benefit cash transfer scheme.
“Tamil Nadu takes a historic leap with the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Scheme, offering Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to 1,06,50,000 women family heads. A groundbreaking initiative reshaping women's welfare in India, which is set to inspire many other states,” Stalin wrote on the social media platform X.
The state government had received 1.63 crore applications from women who wanted to receive the Rs 1,000 cash transfer benefit, considered to be one of the pet schemes of Chief Minister Stalin. The CM had launched special camps to help women submit applications for the scheme. As many as 36,000 special camps were held across the state in July and August.
Even before the launch, Stalin had been personally overseeing the progress of the scheme. When Palanivel Thiagarajan was the finance minister, the government had worked for over an year on the eligibility criteria for selecting beneficiaries. The finance department had approached the Union government and collected details of the women who were really in need of money. The eligibility criteria for selecting one crore women was fixed after several rounds of discussions and deliberations within the finance department. Stalin participated in meetings to review the scheme's implementation. On September 11, during a meeting with the officials, Stalin asked them to ensure that the scheme was executed without any glitches.
“It is one of the signature schemes of our chief minister. This scheme will make a significant impact on every eligible woman. We have ensured that the scheme is implemented without any glitches,” Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu told THE WEEK. He also said the government has already taken into consideration the budgetary requirement for the scheme. Thennarasu denied reports that said funds allocated for departments have been diverted for the the scheme. The government has, however, earmarked a huge sum for the scheme.
Politically, the Rs 1000 cash dole, along with the free bus ride for women in Tamil Nadu are the two major schemes through which the DMK wants to wean away the huge chunk of women vote bank from the AIADMK.
