Rs 2,353-cr free schemes kicked off in TN

Fulfilling three of her election promises, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday kicked off free distribution of laptops, cows / goats, mixies, grinders and fans, on which the government would spend Rs 2,353 crore this year.

She inaugurated the flagship schemes at a function held at Thiruvallur near Chennai as part of the 103rd birth anniversary celebrations of Dravidian leader and former chief minister C N Annadurai.

“These schemes were launched with an aim to help the poor stand on their own legs and become economically independent. Hence no one should demean such schemes”, said the chief minister in her address.

The free schemes would cover 1.85 crore families who draw rice from the Public Distribution System and was aimed at bringing about inclusive growth by eradicating poverty and improving the standard of living of the people. The chief minister had also set up a Special Programme Implementation department to monitor these schemes.

In the first year of its implementation, the government would provide mixies-grinders-fans for housewives at a cost of Rs 1,250 crore covering 2.5 million families. Under the free laptop scheme, 912,000 laptops would be distributed at a cost of Rs 912 crore.

The allocations for the distribution of milch cows, aimed at increasing the milk production and augmenting the income of the poor families, and goats and sheep to create a regular stream of additional income for the poor families were Rs 56 crore and Rs 135 crore respectively. The milch cows would be distributed to 12,000 families and goats/sheeps to 100,000 families.

The government would provide 60,000 milch cows in 21 milk-deficit districts and 700,000 goats/sheep over a period of five years.