HC to take up plea against Rs 2k dole to BPL families

In a petition filed on Wednesday, Senthil Arumugam of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, said the State government’s move comes  at a time when the Lok Sabha elections were round the corner. He contended that providing Rs 2,000 at this juncture was aimed at bribing the voters. On Monday, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced a special financial assistance of Rs 2,000 to 60 lakh families living Below the Poverty Line (BPL) in view of  the damages caused by the Cyclone and the prevailing drought. 

Palaniswami had reiterated that the assistance was not announced with an eye on the elections and was purely intended on providing solace to the people affected by the cyclone and drought. He also said that the amount would be credited directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries by the end of this month. He had said Rs 1,200 crore would be allocated for this purpose. 

A total of 60 lakh BPL families--35 lakh in rural areas, villages and 25 lakh families in urban areas — would benefit from this.  The beneficiaries would include farm labourers, workers in the fireworks industry, power loom and handloom sectors, fishermen and construction workers and among others.