CHENNAI: The State government’s new initiative ‘Unga Kanava Solluga’ (tell your dream) to assess the impact of welfare schemes among beneficiaries also seeks caste category details in its prescribed forms, which may raise a political storm.
The four-page form for the scheme, titled ‘Unga Kanava Solluga’ (Tell your dream), launched by Chief Minister MK Stalin at Ponneri on Friday, seeks detailed information about households, including the caste category particulars of those who take part in the initiative.
It asks for specific details such as ration card number, district, taluk, name of the head of the family, residential address, mobile number and caste category, including SC, ST, MBC, DNC, BC and OC.
Applicants are required to provide details of family members, including name, age, gender, educational qualification and occupation. The form also seeks information on whether the family has benefited from any government schemes and, if so, requires beneficiaries to specify the schemes.
Further, the form asks beneficiaries to give feedback on whether the schemes have reached them effectively and to list the three schemes from which they have derived the maximum benefit.
The survey is linked to the government’s stated goal of making the State self-sufficient in seven key sectors.
The form notes that three essential needs of every family will be fulfilled by 2030 and lists 10 categories, including housing patta, housing facilities, old-age pension or Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai, livelihood loans, education-based schemes, medical assistance, schemes for persons with disabilities, agricultural loans, vehicle loans and others.
The form includes two-page annexures detailing 65 schemes under nine categories, covering children, women’s welfare, youth and labour welfare or employment schemes, health, disability, housing, farmers and other sectors.
The Tamil Nadu government has decided to conduct the impact survey covering 1.91 crore households that have benefited from various welfare schemes. The exercise will be carried out by 73,336 members of different Self-Help Groups.
The inclusion of caste categories in the ‘Unga Kanava Solluga’ form is likely to draw criticism from political parties and leaders.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami termed the initiative politically motivated, while PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss has criticised the survey and demanded that caste enumeration be carried out as part of the exercise.