T.N. Cabinet clears TAPS; Stalin to launch ‘Ungal Kanavai Sollungal’ household survey

The Tamil Nadu Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, on Tuesday cleared the new Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme (TAPS) for State government employees, which guarantees an assured pension equal to 50% of the last-drawn basic pay.

Briefing journalists after the Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat in Chennai, Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said the State government would launch Ungal Kanavai Sollungal (Share Your Aspirations), a month-long household survey aimed at gathering feedback from families on government schemes and identifying priority issues they expect the State government to address.

The Chief Minister will launch the survey on January 9 from Ponneri in Tiruvallur district and it will cover 1.91 crore families across Tamil Nadu. As many as 50,000 trained volunteers will be deployed to visit households, collect family details and seek feedback on the benefits received under various State government schemes, the Minister said.

Each family will be asked to list three aspirations they want the State government to prioritise. They will be digitised using an application and assigned a unique code. A card bearing this code will be handed over to each family, enabling them to track the progress. The initiative will be implemented through the Mudhalvarin Mugavari department, he said.

Further, a separate website will go live on January 11, through which youngsters can share four suggestions, including two short-term aspirations requiring immediate action. The State government also plans to consult entrepreneurs of Tamil Nadu origin residing in other countries on January 12, observed as the Day of Non-Resident Tamils.

At the district-level, consultative meetings will be held under the leadership of District Collectors. Individuals who have contributed to district development, along with MLAs, MPs and other elected representatives, will be consulted to gather district-specific development projects. Subject-matter experts from various fields will also be consulted in the exercise. The objective is to gather public feedback, prioritise needs and understand how people envision the State’s development by 2030, he added.