CHENNAI: State Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Friday said Rs 5,000 was directly credited into the bank accounts of women beneficiaries of a state government scheme with compassion and clinical precision by Chief Minister M K Stalin.
He said the disbursal thwarted the attempts of some vested interest persons who wanted to halt the 'Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai' initiative of granting a monthly entitlement of Rs 1,000 to women as part of the welfare measures.
On February 13, the CM announced crediting Rs 5,000 each into the bank accounts of 1.31 crore women beneficiaries and said the sum included three monthly instalments and, in addition, a component of Rs 2,000 as a summer special package to women heads of family ration cardholders.
Stalin had claimed that opposition parties attempted to freeze the scheme, citing upcoming Assembly elections.
"It is not a surgical strike but a strategy filled with compassion and executed with clinical precision by our Chief Minister," Thennarasu said, winding up the debate on the interim budget for 2026-27 in the House.
Also, he claimed that the DMK government's tenure was packed with numerous difficulties, and despite the challenges, the government ensured economic growth and overall development.
"Our achievements are filled with challenges which we overcame and transformed Tamil Nadu into a leading state in the country in terms of economic growth and development," he said in his reply to the House.
The last five years of the DMK rule have seen Tamil Nadu scaling new heights and setting records in diverse fields, including human resources development, women empowerment, industrial development and social welfare, Thennarasu said.
"The five years have been a fine blend of massive welfare schemes and major infrastructure projects to which the Chief Minister accorded priority," the Minister claimed.
With so much turnaround, Tamil Nadu was not competing with other states in the country but started to compete with Southeast Asian nations and East European countries, Thennarasu added.