The Tamil Nadu government has allotted ₹430 crore for providing relief to children who lost their parents and ₹23.49 crore for the care of such children, ₹219 crore for protecting girl children, and ₹67 crore for building hostels for working women.
An official release said 382 children who lost both or one of their parents to COVID-19 and related complications are given a relief of ₹5 lakh each, at a total cost of ₹19.10 crore, and the sum was deposited in their names, and it would be available to them, with interest, after they turned 18. The single parents of 13,682 children aged below 18 received ₹3 lakh each and nine children of Sri Lankan refugees also received ₹3 lakh each. This came to ₹437.46 crore.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has also ensured that women, differently abled persons and transgender persons can save approximately ₹1,000 every month through free travel on public buses. The Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme has benefited over 18.50 lakh students, and 2.73 lakh girl students have been receiving ₹1,000 under the ‘Pudhumai Penn’ scheme.
The release said Tamil Nadu Working Women’s Hostels Corporation Limited had been directed to create new hostels and upgrade the existing ones. “As the first step, hostels that can house 688 persons will be constructed in Tiruchi, Guduvancheri, and Tambaram at a cost of ₹31.07 crore. In the second phase, hostels that can accommodate 432 working women will be constructed at a cost of ₹35.86 crore in Hosur, Tiruvannamalai, and Parangi Malai,” it said.
Around 87,501 persons have benefited from the scheme to protect girl children, and ₹341.30 crore has been given to 1,43,908 persons who have completed the age of 18 from Tamil Nadu Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation.
The release said 1,26,637 women had received ₹1,047 crore in financial aid towards marriage expenses. Of them, 68,927 received gold coins of 8 grams each, along with the financial aid.
It further said that in accordance with the order passed on November 9, 2021, around 25% of the vacancies in anganwadis had been filled with widows and women abandoned by their husbands. Around 22 lakh children up until the age of six and pregnant women had been given a nutritious health mix.
Published - May 25, 2024 12:51 am IST
