By IANS,
Chennai : The Tamil Nadu government’s freebie scheme, which a lawyer has challenged in the Supreme Court, has been tweaked a bit as it reaches the hilly regions in the state.
The poor living in the heights of places like Nilgiri and Kodaikanal will be given induction stoves free of cost, not fans, along with mixiers and grinders, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa announced Sunday.
A statement issued by the AIADMK government cited the non-use of fans in those places and said that induction stoves for faster cooking would be more relevant to local needs.
“My government functions on the principle that schemes are for people and not people for the schemes,” Jayalalithaa said.
“Hence, for poor women living in hilly regions, induction stove will be given along with mixers and grinder.”
On Sep 15, Jayalalithaa implemented AIADMK’s electoral promise of giving away cattle to the poor, consumer durables to poor women in particular, and laptops and cash incentives to deprived students.
In a setback to the Tamil Nadu government, the Supreme Court Friday ordered the transfer to itself of a case against the freebies that was in the Madras High Court.
The case was filed by city-based advocate S. Subramaniam Balaji.