CHENNAI: To usher in a second 'white revolution' as well as to fulfil its poll promise, Tamil Nadu's AIADMK government will implement a free cow and goat scheme from Sep 15 -- the birth anniversary of Dravida movement founder and late chief minister C.N. Annadurai.
The government's aim is to enable the poor to stand on their own feet and secure economic development without depending on freebies, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said in a statement here on Saturday.
"The government is implementing several schemes that would change the economic position of poor families," she added.
Referring to her party's poll promise, Jayalalithaa said the government has decided to distribute 60,000 milch cows to the poor which would usher in the second 'white revolution'.
She said in the first phase of the scheme, milch cows would be given free to 1,600 families.
The scheme will be implemented in villages where there are no milk cooperatives and formation of such cooperatives will be facilitated, she said.
Thirty percent of the scheme beneficiaries will be the Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Similarly, in order to uplift economic position of the poor in rural areas the government has decided to give four goats each to 700,000 families free over the next five years. It will also bear the transport and insurance cost of the animals.