Assistance to Women Under Scheme Will Increase: CM Stalin

Chennai: The assistance of Rs 1000 a month disbursed to women beneficiaries under the ‘Kalignar Magalir Urimai Thittam’ (Kalaignar Women’s Rights Scheme) would go up in due course and the rights of women too would be increased to a level that historians would one day chronicle that women’s development in Tamil Nadu began during the DMK rule under him, Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Friday.

Addressing a fully-packed stadium of women, hailing from all walks of life and diverse socio-economic strata, he said the beneficiaries of the assistance scheme had now gone up to 1,30,69,831 from the earlier 1,13,75,492 after the second phase of expansion of beneficiaries on Friday at the event titled ‘Winning Tamil Women’ that celebrated the success of the State’s women in various fields.

Pointing out that the scheme had been replicated in different names in at least 10 States of the country, including those that had belittled the measure when it was introduced, he said Tamil Nadu had emerged as a pioneer in making a social impact through the empowerment of women as the fruits of the scheme were wide and the assistance of Rs 1000 marked just the beginning of the revolution.

The states that he mentioned to have taken the cue from Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam for implementing their own programmes for the welfare of women were Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Puducherry, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim.

The scheme that had rewritten history was borne out of an idea to ensure that women participated more in the development of the State and also managed to provide for their families taking care of the nutrition of the children it was happening and along with a plethora of other scheme that primarily targeted the growth of women it was making tremendous impact on people’s lives, he said.

Assuring the women present at the occasion that as a member of the family he would stand by them in all their endeavors for progress, he said that since education was the key to success women should study and become achievers on par with women.

Organised at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, the event saw several women going on stage to testify how they benefited by the diverse welfare schemes, including the free bus rides, health support and the Kalignar Women’s Rights Scheme. A typical pastoral woman explained how she was able to improve the economic conditions of the family and pay the fees for the children by first investing the assistance of Rs 1000 on buying egg-yielding chicken.

The heart rending stories of the simple women on how the free bus ride helped them in diverse ways. A differently abled woman narrated with the help of an interpreter how the government schemes enabled her to evolve as an independent self-reliant person though she came to Chennai with no educational or social background.

Amidst the testimonials of the women came praise from social activist and Padma Bhushan awardee Krishnamal Jaganathan and Badminton paraolympian Thulasimathi Murugesan who represented India at Guangzhou taking part in it. Thulasimani Murugesan said that she was able to win so many medals in so many international tournaments by practicing at government stadia and because the State government offered so many facilities to sportspersons, including paralympians.