AIADMK’s Palaniswami promises Rs 10,000 for every household if voted back to power

The proposed household assistance is designed as a one-time “compassionate relief” payment, intended, he said, to offset the financial strain caused by increased taxes and utility charges. The announcement was part of a broader welfare package aimed at youth, fishermen, weavers and small traders. Addressing unemployment, Palaniswami said graduates registered with employment exchanges would receive a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000.

Youth educated up to the Plus Two level would receive Rs 1,000 per month. “They deserve encouragement, not neglect,” he said, referring to young job seekers awaiting placements. For coastal communities, he promised to increase the fishing ban-period relief from Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000, citing the income disruption faced by families during the annual prohibition on fishing.

“During the ban period, their income stops but their expenses do not,” he said. Marking Thai Pongal as a festival of “dignity and prosperity”, he pledged an additional Rs 1,000 cash gift to families along with the customary Pongal hamper.

The party also proposed expanding free electricity benefits for weavers — from 300 to 450 units for handloom weavers and from 1,000 to 1,400 units for powerloom operators — and waiving cooperative bank loans taken by roadside vendors operating pavement-side shops in urban areas. “Our commitment is simple and clear,” Palaniswami said. “Reduce the burden, revive livelihoods, and restore hope.”