Vijay offers Aadhaar-like card for welfare delivery, AI governance push

CHENNAI: Rolling out a new set of promises ahead of the April 23 polls, actor and TVK president C Joseph Vijay on Sunday unveiled a seven-point "good governance" blueprint, including Tamil Nadu Citizen Privilege Card for every household, designed to ensure automatic, doorstep delivery of welfare schemes without applications, intermediaries or bribes.

Addressing a rally in Kanniyakumari, Vijay said the Right to Services Act would be enacted within six months of coming to power, while a "Vettri Tamil Nadu" Super App would be developed to integrate services such as licences, certificates, and grievance redressal, with penal action against officials for delays.

To improve transparency, he proposed a real-time government dashboard to track budget allocations and spending, ending what he termed opaque financial practices. A participatory portal, myvettritamilnadu.in, would allow citizens to suggest policies, monitor schemes and evaluate governance.

Another promise was the People's Forum, under which petitions with 10,000 verified signatures would mandate a government response, while those with 5 lakh signatures would trigger compulsory debate in the Assembly, with dedicated time in each session.

Citing projections that AI could contribute USD 1.7 trillion to India's economy by 2035, he said Tamil Nadu would be projected as a future tech powerhouse and announced plans to make it India's AI and digital capital, including an AI University, an AI City, innovation hubs across Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchy, support for 1,000 deep-tech firms, and a dedicated Department of AI.

For the fishing community, he announced a threefold increase in safety assistance from Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000, along with a housing scheme to replace dilapidated coastal dwellings.

Flagging the State's rising debt, which has crossed Rs 10.5 lakh crore, he said every rupee spent on interest is taken away from education, healthcare and infrastructure, and pledged to raise revenue and reduce debt without imposing additional taxes.