A case was filed in the Madras High Court today, against the Tamil Nadu government's decision to give Rs 2,000 to families below poverty line in the state. In his plea, Senthil Arumugam of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam stated that the move by the State government comes at a time when the Lok Sabha elections are set to take place in the coming months. He added that giving Rs 2,000 to families will be equal to bribing voters.
The High Court is expected to take up the petition for hearing tomorrow (Thursday). Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, making an announcement in the Assembly on Monday, said taking into account that the poor in several districts were affected by cyclone Gaja, failure of rains and drought, the government has decided to give Rs 2,000 as special assistance to BPL families.
He said the outlay for this will be Rs 1,200 crore and will be made in the supplementary demands for grants to be made this fiscal. In all, 35 lakh BPL families in rural areas and 25 lakh BPL families in urban areas will benefit from this assistance.
The beneficiaries would include farm labourers, workers in the fireworks industry, powerloom and handloom sectors, fishermen and construction workers among others, said the CM.
