Govt sops given to uplift the poor, are not freebies: Jaya

Tiruvallur (TN), Sep 15: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today (Sep 15) insisted that the sops given away at no cost by her government were aimed at uplifting the poor and the oppressed, but that some persons were trying to malign the effort as freebies.

In her address here at the launch of the Special initiatives of her government such as providing laptops to students, and milch cows and goats, all at no cost, she said that these were intended at uplifting the respective beneficiaries, most of them "poorest of the poor".

"Milch cows scheme, for instance, envisages benefiting 60,000 persons in five years. Jersey cross-breed cows are provided to beneficiaries which will yield good quantity of milk. This will help in milk production going up in the State (over the years) resulting in (another) white revolution," she said at the function coinciding with the birth anniversary of Dravidian icon, the late C N Annadurai.

The goats scheme, for which the benficiaries were being selected from the "poorest of the poor," will help such persons "stand on their own feet," in the next two years, ensuring their "economic independence," she said.

For both the aforesaid schemes, 30 percent of the scheme was reserved for Adi Dravidars and Scheduled Tribes, she said adding this was an effort to uplift the said communities.

PTI