Chennai, Mar 24 (PTI) AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday announced free refrigerators for all rice category of ration cardholders if his party is voted to power in the 2026 Assembly election.
Also, he assured to provide one kilo of dal and one litre of cooking oil for free to rice ration cardholders in Tamil Nadu, and one-time grant of Rs 10,000 to every family to manage tax burden and price rise.
There are nearly 2.22 crore rice ration cardholders in the state who receive free rice, and commodities such as sugar, toor dal, and palmolein oil at subsidised prices every month through the public distribution system networked 34,773 fair price shops across Tamil Nadu.
Rice category ration card is used as an eligibility norm by the state government for several of its welfare schemes.
Palaniswami’s announcements toe the line of the party leader and late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who had announced the populist scheme to provide free fans, mixies, and grinders as part of the AIADMK election manifesto ahead of the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
After coming to power, she launched the distribution of these freebies on September 15, 2011, coinciding with former Chief Minister C N Annadurai’s birth anniversary.
Releasing the party’s poll manifesto for the April 23 election, at the AIADMK state headquarters here, Palaniswami said, “The free fridge is meant to reduce the household workload of homemakers.” The party has already promised three free LPG cylinders per year to eligible households, and Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia for families in case the Jallikattu bull tamers die during the sport, were among the numerous assurances in the AIADMK manifesto.
He had already announced a slew of welfare measures for women, such as Rs 2,000 monthly aid, Amma 2-wheelers to 5 lakh working women with subsidy of Rs 25,000, waiver of education loans obtained from banks, assured hiking social security pensions for elderly and others to Rs 2,000, free bus travel scheme for men, similar to women; increase rural employment scheme to 150 days, and one-time grant of Rs 10,000 to every family to manage tax burden, price rise.
Palaniswami hit out at the DMK regime over alleged “commission, collection, and corruption” while releasing the party’s manifesto.
It may be recalled that in 2006, DMK president M Karunanidhi had announced free colour television sets to the poor households, as part of the DMK election manifesto. After coming to power, he launched the scheme on Annadurai’s birth anniversary.
Nearly 297 announcements figure in the AIADMK manifesto and the last one being “compassionate appointments to the family members of martyred and disabled soldiers in the military.” “The people of Tamil Nadu were severely affected during the past five years of the DMK’s jungle rule, under the dictatorship rule of the inefficient puppet Chief Minister Mr M K Stalin, who gave various false promises knowing that it was difficult to implement, and deceived the people and came to power,” the manifesto released in English and Tamil, said.
During the DMK regime, various tax hikes viz electricity charges, property tax, drinking water tax, sewage tax, professional tax, garbage tax etc., were effected, and the price rise of essential commodities and construction materials increased.
“Bribery and corruption have proliferated across all departments, leaving the people in despair. Law and order has completely deteriorated; murders, robberies, sexual crimes against women, and the trafficking of drugs increased, leaving Tamil Nadu completely ruined,” it said.
Though the government’s revenue multiplied manifold over the past five years, the “incompetence of the administratively inefficient” DMK government borrowed over Rs 5 lakh crores in 5 years. “The DMK government has imposed a debt of approximately Rs 1,25,000 on the head of every single person in Tamil Nadu,” it said.
“To end the rule of corruption, commission, and collection, to prevent crimes against women, to end the advertisement model government, to put an end to the family and dynastic politics that survives by deceiving and cheating the people of Tamil Nadu, support the National Democratic Alliance led by AIADMK,” it appealed.
Some of the other assurances made in the manifesto include reviewing the demand of government employees and teachers associations regarding the Contributory Pension Scheme and Guaranteed Pension Scheme, and necessary amendments will be made and the pension scheme will be restructured.
Steps will be taken to reduce the prices of construction materials like cement, steel, bricks, sand, M-Sand, gravel, and crushed stone required for the poor and downtrodden to build houses, a separate university for skill development for educated youth, online skill development training for youth, installing rooftop solar panels for solar power generation in houses, and welfare board for food delivery workers, taxi drivers, and online service workers were among the assurances.
Addressing a query regarding funding for freebies promised in the manifesto, Palaniswami defended the party’s fiscal management record. “During COVID-19 enforced lockdown, when there was no revenue, even at that time, the AIADMK-led government delivered excellent governance,” he said.
“When we return to power, we will focus on expanding the financial base through appropriate channels to fulfill promises,” he said. PTI JSP VGN VIJ ROH
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