On her first day in office today, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa cleared a bunch of welfare schemes, road and drinking water projects and a market interventions scheme to sell ‘dhal’ through fair price shops.
According to an official press release, the Chief Minister inaugurated 201 ‘Amma Unavagams’ – the subsidised canteens across the State. These are in addition to the 297 canteens inaugurated since 2013 when the scheme was launched.
Another release said Jayalalithaa launched a scheme to sell ‘dhal’ through fair price shops to insulate people from soaring prices in the open market. Half a kg of Toor Dhal will be sold at ₹53.50 a kg and urad dhal at ₹56 and ₹49.50, depending on the quality.
The commodity will be sold through Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation through cooperative sales outlets, the release said.
She arrived at the Secretariat today at 3.00 pm to an enthusiastic welcome from AIADMK party supporters who showered rose petals as her convoy drove into the Fort St George, the administrative headquarters.
She spent about an hour in office and left for the day.
Another press release said that the Chief Minister cleared ₹1,000 crore to urban local bodies for road laying. She also launched a new rural roads project worth ₹800 crore.
She announced a housing project for the poor in municipal towns. In the first phase 20,000 families will benefit under the scheme which will be implemented by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board.
Jayalalithaa also launched a scheme to establish 1,274 reverse osmosis plants in parts of southern Tamil Nadu where piped drinking water supply cannot be provided. The total project cost is estimated at about ₹77.13 crore.
The Tamil Nadu Corporation for women development will implement a ₹100-crore project over the next five years to support over 25.88 lakh poor families in which women are the family heads.