Welfare of poor women from downtrodden sections of society is at the heart of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who is crafting welfare schemes for their overall uplift, said Social Welfare Minister P. Valarmathi in Karur on Saturday.
After distributing free gold for thali and cash for marriage assistance, Ms. Valarmathi pointed out the avowed aim of taking the fruits of development to the downtrodden and its earnest implementation has endeared the State government to the people. Ms.Valarmathi said that the purpose of giving away gold and marriage assistance to poor girls rested on encouraging their educational pursuit and to support their parent’s efforts. Education would help the girls lead an independent life charting out their own careers in times of necessity, she said. “The stress on free gold for thali scheme is encouraging education,” she declared.
The Minister gave away Rs.50,000 cash and four gram gold for thali to 341 degree graduates each, while disbursing Rs.25,000 cash and four gram gold to 559 girls who had passed SSLC or Plus Two. The worth of gold and cash given away to the 900 beneficiaries at the meeting was put at Rs.4.15 crore.
The Minister noted that during 2011-12, a total of 1,975 beneficiaries in the district were given Rs.2.02 crore worth of gold for thali and Rs. 6.71 crore in cash for marriage assistance. They included 711 degree graduates.
Transport Minister V. Senthil Balaji said the State government was providing all possible assistance to every section of society based on their genuine requirements. Karur district was receiving due attention in welfare measures and development programmes, he added.
MP M.Thambi Durai, District Revenue Officer T. Christhuraj, MLAs A. Pappa Sundaram and S. Kamaraj, Social Welfare Officer S. Kalaivani, Karur Municipal Chairperson M. Selvaraj participated in the programme.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Senthil Balaji gave away free laptops to 953 students from 11 government higher secondary schools covering Karur and Aravakurichi assembly constituencies in the district.
The schools that benefited included those at Ranganathanpettai, Periya Kulathupalayam, Pugalur, Noyyal, Punnam, Thennilai, Chinnadarapuram and Elavanur.
The Minister also launched admissions to the newly launched English Medium section for Standard Six at five government high schools across the district. Chief Education Officer S. Jayalakshmi and other officials participated in the programmes.
