Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today inaugurated the Pongal cash and gift hamper scheme at the Secretariat. To mark the beginning of the scheme, Palaniswami distributed gift hampesr and Rs 1,000 cash to 16 families.
The gift hamper includes one kg each rice and sugar, 20 gm each cashewnuts and raisins and five gm cardamom, all of which go into the preparation of Pongal. It also contains a two ft long sugarcane piece. The government said Rs 2363.13 crore has been allotted for this purpose.
He also kickstarted the free saree-dhoti scheme, coinciding with Pongal, to the poor, by distributing it to 16 beneficiaries.
The scheme was launched by former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran, in 1983 to help weavers. As part of the scheme, sarees and dhotis are procured from handloom weavers and distributed among the poor. The scheme will be carried out at a cost of Rs 484.25 crore.
Also today, Palaniswami handed over appointment orders to 137 forest department officials who were selected in the TNPSC exams. He gave appointment orders to those who were selected for various posts in MSME.
Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister flagged off the 43 seater Volvo buses which were purchased with the help of Asian Development Bank and India’s first M-Auto.
It is said that 100 M-Autos will be introduced in Chennai. The autos which are green in colour will be operated only by women and transpersons.
The auto will have CCTV, GPS and SOS button. The autos will be managed by an app called Mauto Pride through which riders can book a ride. The autos once fully charged can run for 100 kms.
Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Ministers Kamaraj, Sengottaiyan, R B Udhayakumar, Sellur Raju and senior officials were present during the events.
Chengalpattu district
Palaniswami has inaugurated the newly formed Chengalpattu district. The newly formed Chengalpattu district will have three revenue divisions as Chengalpattu, Madhuranthagam and Tambaram.
The new district will comprise of Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Pallavaram, Vandalur, Madhuranthagam, Cheyyur, Thirukazhukundram and Thiruporur taluks.
Rs 700 cr for lakes
A sum of Rs 700 crore has been allocated to desilt the irrigation channels across Cauvery bed. A notification in this regard was released in the government gazette today.