On Day 1, Tamil Nadu CM gets down to business

Chennai: The first file that Chief Minister Ms Jayalalithaa signed on Monday was the order pertaining to waiver of crop loans taken by farmers up to March 2016 from cooperative banks, which would cost the exchequer Rs 5,780 crore.

“The waiver includes crop loan, medium and long term loans of small and micro farmers payable to co-operative banks,” an official statement said, adding that providing 100 units of free power to every household would entail a financial burden of Rs 1,607 crore on the Government.

The state government will pay the amount to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO). The fourth file signed by Ms Jayalalithaa was regarding increasing gold allocation from 4 to 8 grams for women under the Thallikku Thangam Scheme (Gold for ‘Mangalsutra’).

From now on beneficiaries will get eight grams of gold in addition to monetary assistance of Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000. The Chief Minister also signed a file increasing the free power given to handloom weavers to 200 units and for power looms to 750 units.

Implementing prohibition in a staggered manner was one of the major poll promises of the Chief Minister, who during her election rallies said
prohibition at one go was not possible in Tamil Nadu.

Instead, she said her  government would implement prohibition in phases and has taken the first step on Monday when signed the file regarding reduction of working hours of Tasmac and closing down of 500 shops.