Chennai: In the first budget presented after taking charge, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TNVK) government has renamed a range of welfare and development schemes that were introduced during the previous AIADMK and DMK regimes.
Among the changes, the Annal Ambedkar overseas higher education scholarship has been renamed as the “Annal Ambedkar Foreign Education Scholarship Scheme”, with an allocation of Rs 131 crore. The Entrepreneurship Development Programme has been rechristened as the “Vettri Entrepreneurs Scheme” and allotted Rs 75 crore.
The Nannilam women’s land ownership scheme has been renamed “Mannin Magal Scheme” with Rs 20 crore, while the Tholkudi scheme has been renamed as the “Aandror Development Scheme” with Rs 250 crore. The Tamil Nadu Palm Products Development Board has also been renamed as the “Tamil Nadu Palm Development Corporation”.
Schemes from the AIADMK period have also been rebranded. The free distribution programme for goats, cattle and poultry has been renamed the “Vettri Women’s Goat Rearing Scheme”. The gold-for-thali scheme—implemented earlier under AIADMK and later dropped during the DMK tenure—has been brought back with a new name, “Annanin Seer”, offering an 8-gram gold coin and a silk saree for marriages.
The DMK-launched Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme has been renamed the “Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme”. The budget also announced that hostels and residential schools will be started under the “Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Special Schools” initiative. Further, the free laptop scheme for college students—known earlier as “Amma Laptop” and later as “Ulagam Ungal Kaiyil”—has been renamed the “Vettri Laptop Scheme”.
