Elect Murugan, gain economic progress: Nirmala Sitharaman

Stating that welfare schemes of the Central government had been formulated prioritising the welfare of women, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged the electorate in the Nilgiris district to spur their economic progress by voting for BJP candidate, Union Minister L. Murugan.

Unlike the T.N. government that had imposed preconditions for women under its monthly basic income scheme of ₹1,000, the BJP government led by Prime Minister Modi had devised schemes for the comprehensive progress of families by way of construction of individual toilets, provision of gas cylinders, and funding for women in selfhelpgroups for economic empowerment, the Finance Minister said, while interacting with women SHGs and MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers in Avinashi.

Taking a dig at the family politics of the DMK regime, the Union Finance Minister urged people to understand the “disdain” with which the women representatives were treated by male politicians, in what seemed to be a reference to Chennai Mayor R. Priya.

The Minister also made a reference to the preference shown by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to have his son and Sports Minister Udayanidhi Stalin seated next to him at a function, by unseating Nilgiris MP A. Raja, in a bid to drive home the point that the DMK was casteist. In contrast, she said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it a point to celebrate Pongal at the residence of Mr. Murugan who also belongs to an oppressed community.

Ms. Sitharaman slammed both the DMK and AIADMK, citing complaints from the women at the venue that the norms were framed in such a way that only supporters of these parties could form women SHGs and receive bank funding since 2010, during their regimes.

The Central government was quite particular that all people, irrespective of their economic standing, must live with honour, she said. It was in acknowledgement of the kind of progress that could be brought about in a family through the economic empowerment of women that the Central government has devised a scheme to train women SHGs to operate drones in agricultural fields to spray pesticides. The government will also provide funding at low interest rates for purchase of drones, such that an SHG will be able to learn at least ₹10,000 per month, she said.