A day after he announced that Rs 2000 will be given as special assistance to all famlies below poverty line, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday said that the money will be distributed by the end of this month.
Answering to a question raised by Opposition DMK member Ponmudi during the debate on the budget in the State Assembly, Palaniswami said the amount would be deposited directly to the bank account of the below BPL families by this month end. He also said the announcement was not poll-oriented and given as a special assistance taking into account the damages caused by the cyclone and prevailing drought.
On Monday, Palaniswami, making an announcement in the Assembly, 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, power loom and handloom sectors, fishermen and construction workers among others, said the CM.
