One crore women will be beneficiaries in Rs 1,000 payout scheme: TN CM

Women pavement vendors and fisherwomen would be among the approximately one crore beneficiaries under the Rs 1,000 monthly right payout to women heads of families, Chief Minster M K Stalin apprised the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday.

Women pavement vendors and fisherwomen would be among the approximately one crore beneficiaries under the Rs 1,000 monthly 'right' payout to women heads of families, Chief Minster M K Stalin apprised the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday. Stalin said guidelines and criteria for the scheme would be released soon and the initiative was carefully named ''Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam'' (Women's Right to Income Scheme), which is the government's recognition of women's hard work. The government has already announced that the scheme would be implemented from September 15, 2023. In the Budget, the government set apart Rs 7,000 crore for the scheme. He said the scheme would feature in history as a giant stride in social justice projects of Tamil Nadu and it shall benefit about one crore women heads of families. The Rs 1,000 monthly payout would be directly deposited in the bank accounts of beneficiaries, who shall be the women who need it. Women street/pavement vendors, hawkers, fisherwomen, women domestic and construction workers and women employed for a pittance in small shops and establishments would be benefitted under the scheme.

Such a ''Universal Basic Income'' pilot scheme was implemented in several countries and economic experts have said its outcome showed remarkable changes. Studies show that this initiative has chances of reducing poverty by half. Women would use the money for their children's education, give priority for spends on nutritional needs and medicine and they also come forward to venture into small businesses. ''Above all, it is said that women have got self-confidence.'' The Women's Right to Income Scheme has two objectives and the primary motto is recognition of women's work and the other one is to support women to lead a life with self-respect by improving their life standards and eliminating poverty. The principal Opposition AIADMK has been criticising the DMK regime saying it has now coming up with ''eligibility norms'' for choosing beneficiaries while the ruling party had assured --ahead of the 2021 Assembly election-- payout to all women heads of families.

Against this background, the Chief Minister said the people themselves knew that this scheme would be useful to indigent women. If a ''Housing for All'' scheme is announced, it meant that the beneficiaries would be people who do not own a house and similar is the objective of all other schemes, Stalin said. It was the Dravidian movement which secured ''social freedom'' for women and it is the Dravidian model government that provides economic equality. He asserted that his government would not let down women who believe that the monthly Rs 1,000 payout would change their lives at least to a small extent. The government firmly believed that when it recognised their work, the larger society including men would give them equal rights. The criteria and guidelines for a scheme is to decide eligible beneficiaries. Stalin spoke in the Assembly after PMK's GK Mani lauded the scheme and also raised a question on those who would be out of the plan's ambit. As per Census 2011, Tamil Nadu has a population of 7.21 crore of which male and female are 36,137,975 and 36,009,055 respectively.