CHENNAI: Ahead of the Assembly polls, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday credited Rs 5,000 each to 1.31 crore women beneficiaries under the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme, disbursing a total of Rs 6,550 crore in a single day.
He also announced that the assistance amount would be increased to Rs 2000 from Rs 1000 after coming back to power after the elections.
The payout comprised an advance of Rs 3,000 towards three months of assistance under the scheme and a one-time special summer relief of Rs 2,000. The amount was transferred directly to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said the advance release was aimed at ensuring uninterrupted support to women beneficiaries. In a veiled reference to the election period, he alleged that there were attempts to stall the scheme citing the Model Code of Conduct and that the government had therefore moved to disburse the funds in advance.
Reiterating his commitment to women’s welfare, Stalin said that under a proposed Dravidian Model 2.0 government, the monthly assistance under the scheme would be doubled from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.
The Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai is one of the flagship welfare initiatives of the DMK government, providing monthly financial assistance to eligible women heads of households across the State.
At the launch of the KMUT 2.0 expansion during the Vellum Tamil Pengal event at Nehru Stadium in Chennai on December 12, 2025, the Chief Minister had indicated a hike in the assistance and included had 16.94 lakh new beneficiaries.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has also promised that the monthly entitlement would be raised to Rs 2,000 and extended to all ration card holders if his party returned to power.