CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Corporation Mayor R Priya launched an awareness training programme for the members of the Greater Chennai Corporation Councillors and other departmental district-level officers regarding the Chief Minister's Thayumanavar Scheme on Wednesday.
The programme was inaugurated at the Ripon Building Complex with the release of a training manual. The scheme aims at eliminating poverty, and it has been allocated Rs 27,922 crore under the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department.
The Thayumanavar scheme aims to identify poor and marginalised people and provide them with the necessary assistance with respect to education, housing, and others through government schemes to improve their social and economic status.
The mayor said that the Tamil Nadu government has decided to identify the poor families living in extreme poverty and improve their living standards. In the next two years, the government is determined to provide government assistance to about five lakh families.
In the first phase, the urban poor will be identified by a dedicated committee.
A training manual was released today on clustering and censusing to identify the residential localities of people who are struggling with poverty.
The responsibilities for each committee were explained to councillors in detail, such as setting up the committee and establishing operational procedures, creating public awareness regarding the scheme, and introducing the project at the city council meetings.
The elected ward members, Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board officers, health inspectors, self-help groups, anganwadi workers, and women health volunteers will be the members of the committee.
The scheme is initially planned to be implemented in Alagiri Nagar, Namasivayampuram, Pushpa Nagar of Teynampet, and Periyar Nagar in Tiruvottiyur. Based on the pilot survey reports for these areas, the scheme will be expanded to other places within the city.