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TDP manifesto: TV,cash per month for poor

The Telugu Desam Party on Thursday announced that it would give a minimum of Rs 1,000 every month to selected needy families...

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Thursday announced that it would give a minimum of Rs 1,000 every month to selected needy families and free colour television sets to people who cant afford one if voted to power in the state.

While the free television scheme appeared to be borrowed from the DMKs model in Tamil Nadu,the TDP said the Cash Transfer Scheme was an innovative one,under which cash will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the selected beneficiaries.

Andhra will also vote for a new state Government on April 16 and 23,along with the parliamentary polls.

Announcing the schemes in the partys draft manifesto,TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said his party sought to serve the poor and needy sections through schemes and programmes which directly benefit them,thus eliminating the role of middlemen and preventing corruption and leakages of funds meant for the poor.

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The Telugu Desam is promising the introduction of the innovative Cash Transfer Scheme in a big way to usher in a social-economic revolution which will ameliorate poverty and significantly enhance literacy,health conditions and empowerment of women, Naidu said. Under the scheme funds will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiary families without intervention of middlemen and agencies, he added.

The scheme appeared to be a counter-measure against the highly popular pro-poor schemes announced by the Congress government including Rajiv Arogyashree,and the newly launched pension for widows and poor women.

The TDP,which had formed an alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Left parties in the last week of January,is hoping to improve its election prospects with the scheme.

The Cash Transfer Scheme will economically empower the poorest of the poor,poor and the lower middle-class families by directly transferring amounts varying from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 approximately every month,depending on the economic status and size of the family which will be regarded as a beneficiary unit, Naidu said.

To a query,Naidu said distributing free colour television sets to the needy was an afterthought after the Cash Transfer Scheme was formulated.

First published on: 06-03-2009 at 11:56:55 pm