CHENNAI: The state social welfare department has floated tenders for procuring 25,000 gold coins (22 carat purity) of eight-gram weight each from dealers and manufacturers for beneficiaries under four different marriage assistance schemes. A total of Rs 117.18 crore has been allocated for buying the coins to clear applications pending for the past four to five years, sources said. The procurement of gold coins, suspended during the AIADMK government in 2019, resumed last year.
“Coins procured last year have already been given away to beneficiaries. Tenders have been issued this year to clear the pending applications,” an official said. From 2016 to 2019, every year, an average of 70,000 to 90,000 beneficiaries received eight-gram gold coins and cash benefits ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 under five marriage assistance schemes.
In May 2021, the ‘thalikku thangam’ scheme, named after social reformer Moovalur Ramamirtham, was changed to ‘puthumai penn’ scheme and issuing gold coin under the scheme was stopped. Under the restructured scheme, girl students from government school who enrol for degree or diploma course after Class 12 are given a monthly aid of Rs 1,000 till they complete their higher studies.
Under marriage assistance scheme for daughter of widows, named after Maniyammai, eight-gram gold coin and Rs 50,000 cash is given for graduates and diploma-holders and non-graduates get a gold coin and Rs 25,000. Under orphan girls’ marriage assistance scheme, implemented in the name of Mother Teresa, beneficiaries get gold coin and cash.
In the case of Dr Dharmambal Ammaiyar memorial widow remarriage assistance scheme and Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy memorial inter-caste marriage assistance scheme, beneficiaries who hold graduate or diploma qualification receive eight grams of gold and Rs 50,000, while others receive eight grams of gold and Rs 25,000. Except widow remarriage scheme, there is no annual income eligibility limit set for beneficiaries in the other three schemes.
Rs 117 cr for gold coins
From 2016 to 2019, every year, an average of 70,000 to 90,000 beneficiaries received eight-gram gold coins and cash benefits ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 under five marriage assistance schemes. The procurement of gold coins, suspended by the AIADMK government in 2019, resumed last year after the DMK came to power. A total of Rs 117.18 crore has been allocated for buying the coins this year, sources said.
