CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday urged ministers, members of Parliament and the Assembly, district collectors, and other authorities concerned to ensure Pongal gift hampers are distributed properly to all ration cardholders.
He seems committed to implementing the Pongal gift hamper scheme well, perhaps because it was introduced by his father — DMK patriarch and former chief minister M Karunanidhi — in 2009 after the Tamil Nadu Tamil New Year (Declaration) Bill, 2008 was passed in the Assembly to declare the first day of the Tamil month of Thai as ‘Tamil New Year Day’. It was one of the core ideologies of the DMK.
In a press statement, Stalin said he visited PDS shops and learnt that the Pongal gift hamper scheme has been received well by the general public. He also accused some people (the opposition) of spreading false information about the scheme.
DMK governments have never given cash as part of the Pongal gift hamper. The AIADMK has urged the government to provide cash too