CHENNAI: The 146th Samathuvapuram and the first for the present government was inaugurated by Chief Minister Karunanidhi via teleconferencing on Sunday.
The Samathuvapuram scheme was announced in 1997, by the then DMK government, to eradicate caste division and to promote equity. Samathuvapuram roughly translates into ‘habitation of equity’.
Each Samathuvapuram has 100 houses with 40 allocated to the Adi Dravidars, 25 to the Backward Classes, 25 to the Most Backward Classes and 10 to the Brahmins and other communities. Until 2001, 145 Samathuvapurams with a 14,500 houses were constructed.
The DMK government formed in 2006, did not construct any new Samathuvapurams.
After 3-year limbo, the 146th Samathuvapuram was constructed on 8.67 acre at a cost of Rs 2.23 crore was inaugurated at Malligaipatti in the Tiruchy district. Twenty-nine more Samathuvapurams would be constructed at a cost of Rs 75 crore by the end of this financial year.
Inaugurating the Samathuvapuram via teleconferencing Karunanidhi said: “After independence even though several laws were formulated and development schemes implemented, caste and religion remained a barrier to the progress of the nation. In this situation, with a aim to eliminate caste differences and ensure that all Tamils live as one society, the Samathuvapuram scheme was formulated by the DMK government.”
“We should all work towards; advancing the ideas of Periyar, creating a caste and religion free equitable society and turn all of Tamil Nadu into a Samathuvapuram,” he said.
Pointing out Karunanidhi’s announcement about construction of 95 more Samathuvapurams to mark 95 years of Periyar’s life, Deputy Chief Minister Stalin said in Tiruchy that the Chief Minister had planned to install the statue of Periyar in all the Samathuvapurams.
The Chief Minister has played a vital role in fulfilling the dream of Periyar and Anna, Stalin said and appealed to the people to live in unity and to promote communal harmony.
Later, Stalin distributed the keys to the beneficiaries and distributed welfare assistance under various schemes including Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy maternity benefit scheme, Anjugam Ammayar memorial inter-caste marriage assistance and free pattas.
He also honoured 110 panchayat presidents from the district who had received Nirmal Purashkar award.