Speaker hands over gold, cash as marriage assistance to 105 beneficiaries

TIRUNELVELI

Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu distributed gold and cash assistance to 105 beneficiaries for their marriages here on Saturday.

Of the 105 beneficiaries, who received gold and cash assistance from the Speaker, 89 are graduates and the remaining 16 had lesser educational qualifications.

A total of ₹47 lakh-worth gold and ₹48.50 lakh in cash were given to the beneficiaries. While the graduates received ₹50,000 in cash along with eight grams of gold for mangalyasutra, others were given ₹25,000 and the gold.

Moreover, he also handed over ₹1.25 lakh-worth sewing machines to 21 beneficiaries to start their business ventures in the presence of District Collector K.P. Karthikeyan and MLAs Naninar Nagenthran of Tirunelveli and M. Abdul Wahab of Palayamkottai.

Speaking at the function, he said late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, while introducing the marriage assistance scheme for the benefit of women from below poverty line families, inter-caste marriages and remarriages of widows, was keen that women beneficiaries should have minimum educational qualification for availing this assistance. Consequently, assistance increased as qualification for these women is higher.

Besides continuing this scheme, the Tamil Nadu government had introduced free bus travel for the women in city buses, which had ensured sizable savings for women every month. Hence, the women, by properly utilising these assistances should work hard to come up in life and being the pillars of their families, the Speaker said.