CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Government on Tuesday announced its social sector agenda for the current financial year and said it would introduce a pilot project of extending day care facilities to migrant labourers through mobile anganwadis.
The government also announced that it would provide state-of-the-art prosthetics to help differently-abled athletes to perform better at State, national and international competitions.
These announcements were made by Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Minister B Valarmathi, after her reply on cut motion on the demands for grant of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Department and the Differently-Abled Welfare Department.
The mobile anganwadi scheme is set to be introduced on a pilot basis in five districts with significant numbers of migrant labourers, namely Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Coimbatore and Tirupur. Each of these districts would get two vehicles, which would take the services provided by anganwadis to areas with high concentration of migrant labourers.
The project, the pilot phase of which would cost `40.85 lakh, is aimed at creating access to social sector services for the migrant labourer community, which often loses out on a majority of government schemes due to the remote and temporary nature of their temporary dwellings and their propensity to keep shifting their base.
Valarmathi announced that the State government would allocate `50 lakh to provide modular limbs with a carbon fibre foot to 25 differently-abled athletes, who have won laurels at sporting events. The move is aimed at better equipping them for sporting competitions at the state, national and international levels. Each of these athletes would receive government assistance for up to `2 lakh for the prosthetics.
Other announcements included the upgrade of the Government School for the Blind in Thanjavur from a high school to a higher secondary school to do away with the need for students to shift to either Chennai or Tiruchirapalli to continue their education; a `78.58 lakh infrastructure upgrade at all District Differently-Abled Welfare Centres; establishment of a differently-abled information hotline; provision of vocational training to girl students, girl child protection scheme beneficiaries and transgenders through the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation.