Stalin’s first signature as CM: ~2K each to all in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday announced a Covid pandemic time relief of ~2,000 for the people of the state, a cut in Aavin milk rate and free travel for women in state-run buses, all promises made by his DMK ahead of the April 6 Assembly elections.
Issuing his first set of orders after taking over as CM, Stalin also announced bringing Covid treatment in private hospitals under a government insurance scheme, to provide succour to such people, an official release here said.
It recalled the party's promise of providing ~4,000 for rice ration card holders to aid citizens affected due to the pandemic and help them with their livelihood.
"To implement that, the chief minister has signed the order to provide the first instalment of ~2,000 in May itself at ~4,153.69 crore, covering 2,07,67,000 ration card holders,"
it said.
He also signed another order, reducing the price of milk supplied by state-run Aavin by ~3 with effect from May 16.
Women can travel free of cost in all ordinary fare city buses operated by State transport corporation from Saturday onwards and the government has allocated a sum of ~1,200 crore as subsidy for this purpose, the release said about another poll promise.
Further, he approved constituting an IAS officer- headed department to implement the "Chief Minister in Your Constituency" scheme, to fulfill another assurance of redressing people's issues within 100 days of taking over, on petitions received by him ahead of the polls as DMK chief.
Rangasamy sworn in as Puducherry CM
AINRC leader N Rangasamy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Puducherry at a brief ceremony held at the Raj Nivas here on Friday and will lead a coalition government of BJP members in his cabinet.
While Karnataka is the lone southern state with the BJP in the ruling saddle, its induction in the UT cabinet allows the saffron party expand its footprint, vis-a-vis power in the region.
Incidentally, it fared well in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where it won four assembly seats in the Dravidian heartland in the April 6 polls.
Union Minister of State for Home and BJP leader Kishan Reddy, who attended the swearing-in ceremony today, told reporters that BJP and AINRC would have three ministers each and they would be sworn in over the next few days.