Tamil Nadu: Income ceiling to avail of women, children schemes raised to Rs 1.2 lakh
A government circular dated December 10 notified the same following an announcement by Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Geetha Jeevan in the assembly in June this year
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CHENNAI: To help more people benefit from the State government's women and children-centric welfare initiatives, the Department of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment has officially increased the annual income ceiling of families from Rs 72,000 to Rs 1.20 lakh.
A government circular dated December 10 notified the same following an announcement by Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Geetha Jeevan in the assembly in June this year. The family income ceiling is one of the criteria for availing of the welfare schemes implemented by the Social Welfare Department for women and girl children.
"Due to the change in economic status, the per capita income and standard of living in Tamil Nadu have registered a rise. Hence, to benefit more women and girl children, the annual income ceiling of the family has been raised from Rs 72,000 to Rs 1.20 lakh," read the announcement.
As per the government order, the newly revised annual income ceiling of Rs 1.20 lakh will be effective for schemes like the Chief Minister's girl child protection scheme, where the government will be depositing a certain amount for beneficiaries who have a single girl child and two girl children.
Other schemes to benefit are the marriage assistance scheme for daughters of poor widows, free supply of sewing machine scheme, admission of inmates to government service homes, and enrollments to various women industrial cooperative societies.
"The revision of income ceiling to Rs 1.20 lakh, especially for the CM's girl child protection scheme, will attract even more beneficiaries and thus impact their education and financial conditions. Also, there will be an overall surge in beneficiaries for these schemes as the income ceiling has been revised," said a social welfare department official.
Considering the economic changes, the department constantly revised the annual income ceiling from Rs 12,000 in 1993 to Rs 24,000 in 2008. Further, in 2012, the ceiling was revised from Rs 24,000 to Rs 40,000 in rural areas and to Rs 60,000 in urban regions. However, the last revision of the income ceiling was made in 2014, raising it to Rs 72,000.