Making the announcement in the Assembly, Vijay said the ‘Annapoorani Super Six’ Scheme would benefit about 1.30 crore families and cost the state exchequer approximately Rs 4,000 crore annually. The scheme, which had been announced by his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party ahead of the state election, is scheduled to take effect during Pongal in January 2027.
The announcement adds another large welfare programme aimed at women to a series unveiled by the four-month-old TVK government. Vijay began his speech by referring to the Singappen Special Rapid Action Force Scheme, Thai Maaman Gold Ring Scheme, Vetri Women’s Goat-Rearing Scheme and Annan Seer Scheme, saying funds had been allocated and implementation was under way.
He said the government had also prepared its Vetri Vision Plan, setting targets for programmes to be implemented over its first, third and fifth years in office, with several of them focused on women.
Vijay linked the latest measure to the shortage and rising cost of cooking gas, which he said had followed the continuing conflict in the Gulf region.
“For the past four months, owing to the war situation prevailing in the Gulf region, there has been a shortage in the availability of cooking-gas cylinders,” he said. “As a result, because people have been using alternative fuels and because of the increase in the price of gas cylinders, the public have been forced to spend additional amounts from their income and are facing hardship.”
The Chief Minister acknowledged the state’s fiscal constraints but said his government had decided to proceed with the election commitment. “Taking this into consideration, even amid a situation of financial constraint, in order to reduce the financial burden on the public, protect their welfare and fulfil the promise made to the people, the government has decided to provide them the amount being spent on cooking-gas cylinders,” Vijay said.
“Therefore, for the benefit of women heads of households, in the first phase, three free cooking-gas cylinders a year will be provided under the Annapoorani Super Six Scheme.”
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Unlike a system in which cylinders themselves are distributed by the government, beneficiaries will book and receive LPG cylinders through the existing distribution network. The government will then obtain the transaction details from oil companies and reimburse the cylinder price directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
According to Vijay, eligibility will cover “economically disadvantaged families with an annual income not exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh, small and marginal farming families, transgender families, and other vulnerable families in society.” “Through this scheme, approximately 1 crore 30 lakh 16 thousand 104 families will benefit,” he said.
Preparatory work had already begun, Vijay told the House, and the programme would be launched with Pongal. “I wish to inform this House, through the Honourable Speaker, that approximately Rs 4,000 crore will be allocated every year for this scheme,” he said.
The free-cylinder promise was among the prominent household welfare commitments Vijay presented when TVK released its election manifesto in April.
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Vijay expands free bus travel for women
Vijay also announced a sweeping expansion of free bus travel for women, extending the benefit to several categories of government buses that had so far remained outside the programme and removing restrictions on both income and the number of journeys.
The expanded programme, renamed Vetri Payanam, will take effect on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and is expected to cost the state approximately Rs 6,000 crore annually, Vijay told the Assembly.
In its first phase, women will be permitted to travel free not only on ordinary buses in metropolitan cities and towns but also on Express, LSS and Deluxe government buses operating in metropolitan and urban areas. More significantly for women outside the major cities, free travel will be extended to ordinary-fare mofussil and hill-route buses, allowing journeys between districts.
“There is no income ceiling to benefit under this scheme, nor is there any restriction on the number of journeys one wishes to undertake,” Vijay said. He added that transgender persons would also be eligible and that Vetri Payanam would “be gradually extended to other services.”
The announcement substantially widens one of Tamil Nadu’s most consequential welfare interventions for women, first introduced by the previous DMK government. By the time the DMK faced the election, the free bus programme had recorded about 68 crore journeys, with the government estimating that a beneficiary saved, on average, Rs 888 a month.
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Vijay framed his government’s expansion not simply as a transport subsidy but as an intervention intended to increase women’s access to education, employment and healthcare. “The true progress of a state is measured not merely by its economic growth, but also by the opportunities available to women to participate freely and safely in all spheres of life – education, employment, healthcare, business and social life,” he said.
“Women’s freedom of movement forms the foundation for their economic freedom and for the advancement of their families.” Under the existing programme, Vijay said, free travel was limited to journeys of up to 40 kilometres on ordinary buses in metropolitan and urban areas and on hill-route buses, while Express, LSS, Deluxe and mofussil services were excluded.
“This government gives priority to the principle of social justice that no woman living in any part of Tamil Nadu should lose her opportunities because of transportation costs,” he said.
The expansion could be particularly significant outside Chennai and other urban centres, where longer journeys for work, college or medical care often require services that were not covered by the existing free-travel programme.
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“Through this, girl students will be able to travel to colleges located far away, women will be able to travel to their workplaces, and they will be able to travel by bus without paying fares for healthcare and essential services,” Vijay said.
The Chief Minister repeatedly characterised the expenditure as an investment rather than merely a welfare outlay. “Vetri Payanam is not merely a free bus journey,” he said. “It is a social investment that ensures a girl student’s education, a worker’s employment, a mother’s family responsibilities, and an entrepreneur’s advancement.”
AI generated image of details of welfare programmes for women unveiled by the four-month-old government in Tamil Nadu.