From health insurance to houses for poor, Karunanidhi was a pioneer of welfarism

CHENNAI: Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the stalwart of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was the longest-serving Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu who won millions of hearts by launching a plethora of welfare schemes cutting across caste, religion and other such divides.

'Kalaignar' as he is fondly called was the chief minister for a period of 6,863 days in five terms.

He was a five-term Chief Minister from 1971 when he led the party to a landslide victory after the passing away of C.N. Annadurai in 1969.

As the Chief Minister Karunanidhi brought in several social welfare schemes for the uplift of the poor and the downtrodden in a progressive state like Tamil Nadu.

The 'Kalaignar Kapitu Thittam', conceived and launched in 2009 is a comprehensive health insurance scheme for the poor of the state. This insurance scheme that is aimed at providing health insurance to the poor in society helps them get access to high-quality surgical and diagnostic care in empaneled hospitals.

This is considered as one of the foremost conceived social schemes by the late Chief Minister drawing several sections of the populace close to him.

Implementation of the scheme gave the people an access to emergency medical care at any hospital, not necessarily government-run.

As part of the 'Varumun Kappom' schemes, preventive health care camps were organised across the state for the people to get a rough idea on the general condition of their health.

Another landmark move -- the 'Nalamana Tamizhagam' scheme -- was rolled out during his last tenure and was aimed at spreading awareness about the non-communicable diseases.

He was the one Chief Minister of the state who took special care in setting up welfare boards for workers in the unorganised sector. This includes agricultural labourers, other labourers who are not organised and even transgenders. It helped such people to access state sponsored assistance.

The Periyar Memorial Samathuvapuram was another major step taken by Karunanidhi while in power. Inspired by his guru and founder of Dravidian ideological movements, the project was a housing scheme in rural areas where people from all communities were invited to live together.

The Tamil Nadu government constructed houses and provided civic infrastructure. The houses under the scheme were allotted to beneficiaries from different communities.

The first Samathavapuram was inaugurated on August 17, 1998, in Melkote village of Madurai. It was considered a brilliant and bold move by the Chief Minister Karunanidhi in a state where the two-tumbler system still exists in villages.

Another of the Chief Minister's main moves was the 'Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam' (All Villages Anna Renaissance). The scheme was aimed at the injection of resources into Village panchayats in five years so that they could provide statutory services as that comes under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994.

The 'Moovalur Ramamirtham Scheme' accounts for marriage assistance to poor women, introduction of eggs in the noon meal scheme, waiver of cooperative loans and this scheme became a major hit among the ordinary people Of the state.

In 2008 during his last stint as Chief Minister, Karunanidhi brought in a landmark change in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and announced that 1kg of rice would be made available in PDS shops at a rate of Rs 1. It is to be noted that during that election, the DMK had in its manifesto promised rice at Rs 2 per kg but once the DMK formed the government it provided rice at Rs 1 per kg which was a "revolution".

He also ensured that the farmers got a fair price for their produce and not being exploited by middlemen. The 'Uzhavar Sandhai' was opened by the veteran Chief Minister with this in mind and areas were provided for farmers to exhibit their produce and sell it directly to the people instead of commission agents and middlemen exploiting them.

The self-help group culture in Tamil Nadu was also promoted by Muthuvel Karunanidhi. Coined as 'Namukku Naame Thittam' (Self sufficiency) was a participatory scheme mooted in the 1997-98 budget to promote and strengthen the self help group culture and self-reliance.

It was Karunanidhi as Chief Minister who introduced the egg during the noon meal scheme for children and free bus passes for students. The veteran DMK leader also pushed for the waiver of cooperative loans during his regime.

The Slum Clearance Board was also instituted by Karunanidhi as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and built residences for people living in abject poverty and without homes.

It is to be noted that Tamil Nadu has a better human living index when compared to many states of India and Karunanidhi who was Chief Minister for five terms has played a major role by implementing several schemes for the betterment of living conditions of the people. He was the champion of the Dravidian model of governance and believed wholeheartedly in the equality among the people in all aspects.