Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday constituted a welfare board for non-resident Tamils and appointed Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, the DMK’s environment wing secretary, as its chairman.
According to an official press release, though the DMK, led by Kalaignar (Karunanidhi), enacted the Tamil Nadu Non-Resident Tamils’ Welfare Act in 2011, the subsequent government failed to implement it. The board will address the problems faced by non-resident Tamils and offer them necessary help.
The members of the board include Mauritius-based Arumugam Parasuraman, London-based Mohammed Faisal, UAE-based Siddique Syed Meeran, North America-based Caldwell Velnambi, Singapore-based G.V. Ram, alias Gopalakrishnan Venkatraman, Mumbai-based A. Meeran and Chennai-based advocate Pugazh Gandhi.
A fund of ₹5 crore would be created through the contribution from the government. Moreover, the government will allot ₹1.4 crore for capital expenditure and ₹3 crore per year for welfare schemes, administrative costs and recurring expenditure.
