Free gas stove, MK's Pongal gift

Chennai, Sep 18: The DMK Government will distribute free gas connection and stoves to ten lakh poor families this Pongal as promised in the party manifesto, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi announced today.

Inaugurating the District Collector's Conference at the State Secretariat here, he said the government had earmarked Rs 150 crore for the scheme.

The committee, constituted to select the beneficiaries for the free colour TV scheme would also identify the beneficiaries of this scheme, he added.

Rolling out new schemes, Mr Karunanidhi announced an assistance of Rs 1,000 each to one lakh poor families in urban areas to establish toilet facilities in their homes. A sum of Rs ten crore would be allocated for the scheme to be implemented from this year.

He said, the DMK Government would also ensure that no village panchayat in the State would be without basic facilities like playground, library, renovated tanks, concrete roads, water and street lights in the next five years.

Mr Karunanidhi said his government would make efforts to provide all basic facilities in the villages to prevent migration from rural to urban areas. In order to improve the standard of living of urban poor, the government would provide loans to unemployed youth and women to take up self-employment. A sum of Rs ten crore, comprising revolving fund and subsidy, would be provided through Tamil Nadu Women Development Corporation for this purpose.

He said the DMK manifesto, released for the May Assembly elections, comprised 177 promises of which budgetary provisions had been made to implement 62 schemes this year.

Of the 74 promises which did not require any financial allocation, steps have been taken to ulfill 45 of them, he added.

Announcing that his government would implement 107 promises in the first year, Mr Karunanidhi sought the cooperation of all the District Collectors for successful implementation of the schemes.

Observing that the law and order situation in the State was satisfactory, he urged the police officials to ensure that terrorism did not rise its ugly head in the State.

Mr Karunanidhi said in the next two years, the Government would provide necessary infrastructure facilities, including auction centres, ice boxes and vehicles, to fishermen in 12 coastal districts. Also in the coastal districts, a livelihood assistance of Rs 10,000 each would be provided to physically challenged youths, whose annual income was below Rs 50,000, and to the parents of youths, who were crippled more than 75 per cent, he added.

The Government would also ensure in the next two years that no school or anganwadi centre in the state was without toilet facilities, he said.

Stating that distribution of free dhoti and saree to the poor on Pongal day would be continued to be implemented next year, the Chief Minister said a production target of 164 lakh dhotis and sarees had been fixed for the purpose.

On the distribution of two acres of land each to landless farmers and agricultural workers, Mr Karunanidhi said as on August three, 1,91,320 acres of Government wasteland, 69,217 acres of wasteland encroached upon by 98,000 small and marginal farmers and 6,84,411 acres of patta land owned by 4.25 lakh small and marginal farmers were available in the state.

He said the Government would accord priority for creating water sources for irrigation by sinking borewells and setting up seepage ponds in the wastelands. The Electricity Board would also promptly provide power connections to new pump sets under the scheme, he added.

The Chief Minister urged officials to uphold human rights and prevent custodial deaths.

On the influx of Lankan refugees, he said so far 13,844 Tamils had arrived in Tamil Nadu from the strife-torn island nation.

''While it is our duty to lend a helping hand to them, we should not allow anti-social elements on our soil in the disguise of refugees,'' he cautioned.

UNI