AIADMK general secretary and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday sought to woo women voters of the western districts by detailing the various welfare schemes that her government had launched to alleviate their sufferings and the educational and financial assistance extended to empower them. At an election meeting in Salem, she also targeted the DMK, her principal rival, by alleging that people’s safety was under peril during the previous regime.
Seeking votes for the party’s 46 candidates from Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Tirupur, Coimbatore and Udhagamandalam districts, Ms. Jayalalithaa tried to strike a chord with members of the women self-help groups (SHG) claiming loans to the tune of Rs. 24,362 crore was disbursed to the SHGs during her tenure against Rs. 9,838 crore given during DMK regime.
Addressing a mammoth gathering here, she said of the seven orders she signed after assuming charge as Chief Minister in 2011, four related to women’s welfare, including grant of four grams of gold for marriages and maternity leave of six months.
The AIADMK government in 1994 had enacted a law to provide one-third representation to women in urban and rural local bodies, she said, adding that her government had enacted a law to provide 50 per cent representation to women in civic bodies.
Terming the previous DMK rule a reign of terror, Ms. Jayalalithaa alleged that people felt insecure due to lawlessness and political interference in police force.
