More than 43.42 lakh families in Tamil Nadu collect ₹2,000 relief on day 1

Money distributed via fair price shops

A total of 43,42,800 families in the State received ₹2,000 on the first day of distribution of COVID-19 assistance on Saturday.

The State government had announced that it would distribute ₹4,000 to all rice card holders. As a first instalment, it gave ₹2,000 to family card holders affected by the lockdown. A total of 2,07,66,950 rice card holders would be covered under the scheme for which ₹4,153.39 crore would be spent.

“Fair price shop staff had visited homes on our street and distributed tokens last week,” said M. Govindan, a resident of Mettukuppam.

Chitlapakkam resident Vishwanathan said card holders in his area maintained social distancing and ensured masks were worn. “They were not asked to provide biometric data, which was a welcome thing. They had to sign a register in the shop,” he said.

However, families that had moved from one place to another were told that they could collect the amount only from their parent fair price shops. Vendam Narasimhan, a resident of Chitlapakkam said she had moved two months ago from Vellore district and had been taking essential commodities from a nearby shop. But when she asked them last week if she could collect her relief amount there, the shopkeepers told her to get it from Vellore.

Rain no deterrent

Many fair price shops in Coimbatore saw long queues despite the showers on Saturday. According to an official, all rice card holders who possessed tokens were provided with the cash relief till noon across the district. Out of the 10,18,637 card holders, about 21% received the relief, the official noted.

In Salem, people waited in queues and the police personnel ensured physical distancing and adherence of COVID-19 protocols.