Special camp for ration cards: Egmore MLA’s novel way to kickstart poll campaign

CHENNAI: After inaugurating a special camp for extending ration cards and government schemes to the public on Thursday, the ruling party’s Egmore MLA, I Paranthamen, said that he has kicked-started the election campaign, even though the Assembly election is 10 months away, referring to welfare activity undertaken.

On Saturday, along with officials from the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies department and volunteers, Paranthamen inaugurated a special camp held at a private marriage hall in Purasawalkam, providing a single-window system for the public to obtain their ration cards.

Our outreach programmes and surveys, conducted through the special drive 'Connect With MLA ' with the help of 100 volunteers, revealed that nearly 1,200 families in Egmore constituency didn’t have ration cards, and most of them are from the underprivileged population, he said, explaining the rationale behind the special camp.

The reception for this camp was overwhelming as several families, who were denied ration cards for years, were able to resolve it on the spot, he said.

"I introduced a special app 'Namma Egmore,' which was launched by the Deputy Chief Minister Udayanidhi Stalin, to know the grievances of the public and rectify them. The initiative helps me directly connect with the public and to understand and address their grievances," he added.

Through the ‘Connect With MLA’ drive, we were able to collect data on how many families and individuals couldn't get the special government schemes, such as the Chief Minister Health Insurance Scheme, Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai, employment schemes and various other beneficiary schemes, the MLA said. Providing ration cards to families through a single-window system is just the first step in addressing public grievances. We have plans in the pipeline to rectify all their problems, the DMK’s MLA added.

The Chief Minister, MK Stalin, appreciated my initiatives when I met him recently to hand over the reports of the initiatives, underscoring the importance of welfare measures, he said.

D Suganathi, a homemaker from Egmore, expressed her joy with tears flowing down her cheeks at how her two-decade wait for a ration card had come to an end at the camp.

The people’s representative said that 90 per cent of stormwater drain works have been completed in Egmore constituency, and the remaining works will also be completed before the onset of the monsoon.