Chennai, February 13 – Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin announced on Friday that his government would deposit Rs 5,000 each into the bank accounts of 1.31 crore women beneficiaries of the government's women empowerment scheme. This move has drawn criticism from opposition parties, who claim it is a "desperate attempt to avoid defeat in the upcoming elections."
Additionally, the Chief Minister announced that the monthly grant would be doubled to Rs 2,000 if the DMK party were to win the upcoming Assembly election.
Stating that Rs 5,000 had been directly deposited into the bank accounts of beneficiaries of the Kalaignar Women's Entitlement scheme, he said, "You will have received Rs 5,000 this morning. I have decided to provide this sum in light of an attempt (by vested interests) to suspend the scheme due to the upcoming elections."
Therefore, in order to counter the move to prevent women from receiving the monthly financial assistance, he decided to provide the sum for three months from February, and also provide Rs 2,000 to cover their expenses during the summer months, he said in a video message posted on his social media platform, 'X'.
"Furthermore, the monthly entitlement of Rs 1,000 will be increased to Rs 2,000 once the DMK returns to power this year," Stalin said in the message.
"I appeal to the women to use this amount wisely for the education needs of their children, to buy medicine or other essential items," Stalin, who is the president of the DMK, said, expressing confidence that his party would return to power.
Stalin said when he took office (in 2021), his government faced numerous challenges, including the pandemic and the financial crisis left by the previous AIADMK regime. "We provided a relief amount of Rs 4,000 to protect your livelihoods. And after overcoming the severe financial crisis left by the previous AIADMK government, we implemented many schemes," he said in the video message.
Despite criticism that the scheme was not feasible, the government successfully implemented the Rs 1,000 Kalaignar Women's Entitlement scheme from September 2023, initially for 1.13 crore women, and later expanded it to include many women heads of family ration cardholders, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 1.31 crore.
Describing the initiative as "an entitlement sum given to recognize the contribution of women to society," the Chief Minister said, "This amount has enabled women to meet many essential expenses, such as daily household expenses, medical expenses for family members, and educational expenses for children." Due to the scheme's popularity, other states were beginning to implement it.
"As we are working to improve the financial condition, there is information that a 'group' in Delhi and another 'their slave' in Tamil Nadu are plotting to stop the women's entitlement for the next three months, citing the upcoming Assembly elections. Also, reports indicate that some are trying to move the court in this regard," the Chief Minister claimed.
"As someone in your family, I know very well how much difficulty you will face if this scheme, which recognizes the labor of 1.31 crore women, is stopped for three months. I can feel how much pain you will experience if this amount is stopped during the summer when it is difficult to go to work in the scorching heat," Stalin further said.
His thought on how they would manage the monthly expenses, buy medicine for the sick in the family, or feed children during exams, and meet other essential requirements, made him take the important decision to immediately disburse the aid for February, March, and April. In addition, an additional special grant of Rs 2,000 was included to cover summer expenses, he said.
Reacting to this, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Edappadi K Palaniswami, said, "The announcement reflects the Chief Minister's fear of defeat in the upcoming elections."
"The Stalin-led government, which did not implement this scheme for 28 months after coming to power, is now giving a 'summer special grant' along with the three-months instalment sum," Palaniswami said in a post on 'X'.
"Women will not trust this 'patchwork of crediting election time money'," Palaniswami said.
He claimed that Stalin had hiked the monthly sum following the AIADMK's election promise of providing Rs 2,000 monthly aid to women heads of family ration cardholders when his party formed the next government this year.
Actor-politician Vijay questioned if summer came only this year for the Chief Minister to announce a special grant of Rs 2,000. He questioned the state government for disbursing the monthly aid two days ahead of the scheduled 15th of every month.
BJP leader and former Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan strongly condemned the announcement and said, "The Chief Minister made the announcement due to fear of defeat in the election."
AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran said even if the DMK government provided Rs 50,000 to each woman, the ruling party was sure to be defeated at the hustings.
DMK’s ally, the Congress, however, welcomed the move and said this will be a real relief for poor and middle-class families struggling under the burden of inflation. "We see this as a tribute to the hard work and self-confidence of women," TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai said on 'X'.