CM Vijay announces two new sops worth Rs 10,000 crore for women

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday announced two new schemes under Rule 110 in the Assembly, focusing on women centric — Annapoorni Super Six and Vettri Payanam.

Explaining the Annapoorni Super Six Scheme, the Chief Minister said beneficiaries would receive the cost of three LPG cylinders every year under a reimbursement model.

"Under this scheme, around 1.30 crore families with an annual income of not more than Rs 2.5 lakh will benefit. The new scheme will be implemented from the ensuing Pongal festival in January 2026. The government will allocate Rs 4,000 crore for this scheme," the Chief Minister said.

During the election campaign, TVK leader and now Chief Minister Vijay had announced the Annapoorni Super Six Scheme. Under the scheme, every family would receive six LPG cylinders free of cost every year.

However, the TVK-led government has now announced the scheme with an income criterion. Chief Minister Vijay said that owing to the Gulf War, there had been a severe shortage of gas cylinders over the past four months.

"Due to this, people are suffering from steep increases in gas cylinder prices. To avoid this hardship, the government is going to implement the Annapoorni Super Six Scheme," he said.

Another major announcement for women and transgender persons was the extension of free bus travel. Under the name Vettri Payanam, women will be allowed to travel on Express, Limited Stop Service (LSS) and Deluxe buses, in addition to the existing scheme, from October 2, which marks the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

"Under the extended scheme, women can travel on ordinary-fare mofussil buses operating between districts and in hill areas. Women can travel without any limitations and there will be no income ceiling. The scheme will cost the government Rs 6,000 crore annually," the Chief Minister said.

He also said the scheme would be extended to other services in the future.

TN has 2.39 crore LPG connections

Tamil Nadu has 2.39 crore LPG connections. According to data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), IOCL, BPCL and HPCL supply LPG to 2.39 crore connections across the State.