Chennai: Actor-turned-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay Saturday announced a package of women welfare schemes, seeking to outbid DMK and AIADMK on pre-poll promises ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
The centrepiece of the announcements was a monthly financial aid of Rs 2,500 to women heads of households—excluding government employees—available for all until the age of 60.
Both the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Opposition AIADMK have pledged Rs 2,000 per month to women. The DMK government currently disburses Rs 1,000 monthly to roughly 1.31 crore eligible women under its Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam.
Vijay, addressing an International Women’s Day event in Mammalapuram, announced three other schemes too. The Annan Seer Thittam — framed as a gift from a “maternal brother” — promises 8 grams of gold and a silk saree to women getting married. The Thai Maaman Thanga Mothiram Thittam offers the families of newborns a gold ring each along with a “baby welcome” kit of food, diapers and clothes. And the Annapurani Super 6 scheme promises six free LPG cylinders annually to every family—a direct riposte to what Vijay called the DMK’s “poll-time concessions” on essentials, including gas cylinder prices.
To check school dropouts, the Kamarajar Kalvi Uruthi Thittam would provide mothers or guardians annual financial assistance of Rs 15,000, he announced.
On women’s safety, TVK proposed smart panic buttons across all public transport—including share-autos—linked to a centralised monitoring unit, and a ‘Zero Dark Spots’ programme to eliminate poorly lit areas through city-wide CCTV and surveillance networks.
The party also pledged free bus travel for women, free sanitary napkins at ration shops, schools and colleges, and a dedicated government department for women’s welfare.
“These are not mere announcements but firm commitments to empower women and ensure their financial independence, safety, and dignity,” Vijay said.
He added, “Safety of women is a priority of TVK and a dedicated department will be set up for women’s welfare to streamline women safety and women empowerment initiatives.”
The proposals seek to extend—or in some cases duplicate—existing state provisions.
The DMK government has provided free bus travel for women since 2021 and has already deployed AI-enabled panic buttons and CCTV across more than 2,330 MTC (Metropolitan Corporation Buses-Chennai) buses, though TVK’s plan claims broader coverage including share-autos and a city-wide network.
Last month, the DMK government advanced Rs 5,000 to Magalir Urimai beneficiaries— covering three months of payments plus a Rs 2,000 “summer special package”—and extended one-time aid to senior citizens, widows and persons with disabilities.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has promised to raise the monthly figure to Rs 2,000 if re-elected. The DMK also provides Rs 25,000 in marriage assistance to 10th-pass brides from low-income families under the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Ninaivu scheme.
At Saturday’s event, Vijay briefly addressed the controversy surrounding his wife Sangeetha’s divorce petition. “No regrets and I will handle it. It’s hurting me to see my supporters being hurt while defending me over the ongoing issues. Let’s focus on public welfare and keep those issues aside as they are not worth it,” he said.
Political analysts cautioned that the announcements would need stronger outreach to convert into votes.
“The announcements should reach the target voters and the women in the state also need to be aware of these promises. That system seems to be lacking and they might just be restricted to the meetings,” said political analyst Professor A. Ramasamy.
He added that such welfare schemes for the middle class and women have been “government strengths since DMK and AIADMK came into being. The women welfare schemes need to be pushed further because women form more than 50 percent voter base (in Tamil Nadu)”.
Analysts also pointed to the contradiction with Vijay’s earlier stand against “freebies”–a stand he had adopted publicly at TVK’s inaugural conference at Vikravandi.
“The freebies are not viewed as freebies but more of welfare schemes and this culture was accelerated after 2006 when senior DMK leader late K. Karunanidhi announced free TV, gas cylinder and other provisions. While Vijay, during his first conference in Vikravandi, stated that he is against the freebie culture, the scenario in TN is not favourable for the same. TVK is repositioning himself by announcing these welfare schemes, most of which are already existing in some form of the other. But TVK is attaching a personal appeal to these schemes. The extra push could be to prop up his image due to the ongoing personal controversies,” said Arun Kumar, Assistant Professor of political science at VIT Chennai.
(Edited by Prerna Madan)