AIADMK assures ration card-holders of free dal and cooking oil in its manifesto for the 2026 Assembly election

Releasing the AIADMK manifesto for the 2026 Assembly election, the party general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, on Tuesday (March 24, 2026) announced the provision of one kg of pulse and one litre of cooking oil, free of cost, to ration card-holders under the public distribution system (PDS), along with free rice.

Free refrigerators

The distribution of free refrigerators to women beneficiaries of the PDS, the revision of electricity tariff on common facilities in multi-storey apartments, and the increase in horizontal reservation for students of government schools in admission to the medical courses from 7.5% to 10.5% are among the highlights of the manifesto. It contained 297 assurances. Mr. Palaniswami told reporters at the party headquarters that if his party captured power, the government would do everything to augment the sources to fund all the welfare schemes. “Just as we, in the government, had managed the situation amid funds shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will do it this time too.” As for agriculture, the party assured the electorate of steps to fix the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy at ₹3,500 a quintal (now, ₹2,545 and ₹2,500 for grade A and common varieties respectively) and a fair and remunerative price of ₹4,500 a tonne (currently ₹3,500) for sugar cane. Small and marginal farmers would get an annual production subsidy of up to ₹15,000 per hectare. A scheme, envisaging an accident insurance cover of ₹25 lakh, would be formulated for families of missing fishermen and those who died at sea.

Making it clear that there “is no change” in the party’s stand against the clauses of the National Education Policy detrimental to the two language formula, the manifesto said provisions of the policy that were not detrimental “can be accepted”. 

Amma Clinics

Among the other assurances given by the AIADMK were the revival of nearly 2,000 Amma Clinics; conversion of all city buses into electric vehicles; and a subsidy of ₹30,000 for 1 kilowatt (KW) and ₹60,000 for 2 KW of rooftop solar panels installed at houses.

The party said it would urge the Union government to allow night flights and establish cargo transport facilities at the Thoothukudi airport, apart from restoring the 50% concession in rail fare for senior citizens and journalists. On the sensitive issue of the re-introduction of the Old Pension Scheme for State government employees, the AIADMK said the Contributory Pension Scheme and the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme would be reviewed. The income ceiling for journalists’ pension would be scrapped, it said. An appeal would be made to the Union government to provide “dual citizenship” to Sri Lankan refugees living in rehabilitation camps, it added.

As for the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the party said it would urge the Centre to include pump sets in the list of agricultural machinery equipment for reducing the tax rate from 18% to 5%. An identical downward revision would be recommended for recycled plastic waste and products manufactured from it, and for the raw materials required for making eco-friendly paper bags, it said. Likewise, the job works of micro, small, and medium enterprises should carry a GST rate of only 5%, it said.

The party expressed its commitment to “transform the State quickly” into a one trillion dollar economy. 

When asked why he chose Mylapore to launch his election campaign, Mr. Palaniswami said “proximity” was the reason. Had he been in Salem, he would have done it from there, he added.

‘Talks under way’

To a question on concluding the talks with other allies, the AIADMK  leader said the negotiations were under way, and would be completed in a few days. He said the alliance between the PMK faction led by party founder S. Ramadoss and the All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal  Munnetra Kazhagam led by V.K. Sasikala would have no impact on the NDA’s  prospects.