The Tamil Nadu government will set up a Centre for Social Justice and Equity at Madras School of Social Work, with a grant of ₹2 crore, Minister for Adi Dravidar Welfare N. Kayalvizhi Selvaraj announced in the Assembly on Tuesday.
Replying to the discussion on the demands for her Department, Ms. Selvaraj said the Centre would offer research and certification programmes focusing on promoting social justice and equity, organise conferences and bring out research publications.
The schemes offered through the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation (TAHDCO) towards economic progress of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities would be revamped to suit the present day. A Project Monitoring Unit would be created to monitor the implementation of various schemes of the department and to ensure that the allocated amount is spent and the benefits reach the intended persons. The projects taken up under the Schedule Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP), too, would be monitored by the unit.
While the food for students in the department-run hostels are prepared in the respective hostels, the Minister said a centralised kitchen would be set up for the 23 school and college hostels functioning in Chennai, at a cost of ₹3.75 crore.
She said ₹25 crore had been allocated to install CCTV cameras and biometric-based attendance systems in all hostels. She announced the creation of modern teaching and learning rooms in college hostels, creation of student-run clubs in the hostels, besides skill development and training programmes. The Minister said a socio-economic survey of all the 37 tribal communities would be done with the help of non-governmental organisations for formulating new schemes for them. Internet connectivity will be set up in remote tribal villages at a cost of ₹10 crore to improve communication and enable access to e-Services of the government for them.
Fifty tribal hamlets with a minimum population of 500 each will be developed as modern villages with all amenities under the Special Area Development Plan and State Balanced Growth Fund, she said.
The department will translate selected Tamil works of writers from SC and ST communities into English, the Minister said.
