Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu launches women employment scheme worth Rs 1.2 thousand crores
CHENNAI: Minister for Sports Development and Youth Welfare Udhayanidhi Stalin, who also holds the special programme implementation portfolio, on Thursday said a new scheme to promote women’s employment called Tamil Nadu Women Employment and Protection Scheme with several sub-components will be implemented at a cost of Rs 1,185 crore for five years between 2024 and 2029. The allocation for the scheme for 2024-25 will be Rs 168 crore.
Replying to the discussion on demands for grants of his departments, Udhayanidhi announced several new schemes, including those aimed at turning women into entrepreneurs, helping graduate youth improve job skills, and psychometric tests for identifying children’s talents at the school level.
Highlighting that women’s contribution is vital for Tamil Nadu to become a trillion-dollar economy by 2030, the minister said the scheme, which is aimed at identifying the talents of women at the district level, will be launched in eight districts in the first phase.
A Talent Assessment Platform will be created to enable girls who are studying in Class 8 to 12 to identify careers suitable for them through psychometric tests. An ‘Earlypreneruship’ programme will also be included in the school curriculum to inculcate the zeal of entrepreneurship in children, he said.
The minister said an information bank for women would be created where details about skill development, entrepreneurship, psychological counselling, employment opportunities, and safety aspects for women at workplaces will be made available.
Model Creche Cum After School Care centres would also be set up at places where women workers are engaged. The minister also announced a new scheme called SigaramThodu (Reach the Peak) to identify 1,000 college students hailing from rural and backward areas to provide them with skill development training.
Udhayanidhi also announced that an extension of the Naan Mudhalvan Scheme called ‘TN Skills – Finishing Schools’ will be launched. The scheme, for which Rs 100 crore has been allotted, will help the youth.
The incentive for sportspersons, who take part in the Olympics, has been hiked from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. So far, 16 sportspersons have been chosen for Olympics. Through the Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation and within a year of its inception, the Tamil Nadu government has given away Rs 8.62 crore to 375 sportspersons as incentive.
These sportspersons have won 62 medals including 21 gold medals, Udhayanidhi said. The minister also said TN government conducted the Khelo India events in an excellent manner. Union government gave Rs 25 crore to Madhya Pradesh for conducting Khelo India events last time while only Rs 10 crore was given to TN. In Chennai and sub-urban areas, steps are taken to provide pattas to people and in July, 5,000 pattas will be given away to beneficiaries, he said.
