Road-side women vendors, fisherwomen, those into construction work, workers in minor commercial establishments, domestic helps employed in multiple households were among the sections of women, who would benefit from the monthly ₹1,000 Universal Basic Income scheme, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said in the State Legislative Assembly on Monday.
About one crore women across Tamil Nadu would benefit from the scheme and the monthly aid of ₹1,000 would be deposited to deserving women directly in their bank accounts, Mr. Stalin said during his reply to PMK floor leader G.K. Mani (Pennagaram), who raised certain queries over the scheme. The Chief Minister said the implementing guidelines would be issued soon.
In a lengthy reply, Mr. Stalin said the two primary objectives of the scheme were to recognise the life-long relentless selfless work of women and to eradicate poverty by complementing their livelihood with an annual aid of ₹12,000 and further to ensure their self-respect and improve their standard of living in the society.
“How many hours of work by women are behind the victory of men, children’s education and health both indoors and outdoors? If all those hours of work were to be paid for, the women would have got equal share in ancestral property even without a legislation,” Mr. Stalin contended. He said the Universal Basic Income scheme was introduced only to formally recognise the work of numerous women.
Citing experts’ opinion on the Universal Basic Income programmes introduced among select communities in various parts of the world, Mr. Stalin said: “They have said this could possibly reduce the poverty by half and that women are prioritising children’s education, nutrition and medical expenses with the aid and that they came forward to start small businesses.”
