Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026| Coupons to buy household appliances to expansion of breakfast scheme: Inside DMK manifesto

Chennai: Going populist yet again, Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Sunday promised coupons worth Rs 8,000 to families that don’t pay Income Tax to buy household appliances like fridge and washing machine and extending the Chief Minister’s Free Breakfast Scheme in government schools to cover students from sixth to eight standards. 

 “DMK manifesto will be the Superstar of this election that will witness Dravidian Model 2.0 government,” Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin said, after unveiling the manifesto which also promised that the monthly assistance to 1.31 crore women will be increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. 

Other Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) promises by the DMK are increasing the Old Age Pension from Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,000 and enhancing the cash assistance for government school students who pursue higher education from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. 

Apart from these promises that could further drain the exchequer and increase the state’s overall debt which currently stands at Rs 10 lakh crore, the manifesto also focused on infrastructure development across the state, region-specific development projects, upgrading government colleges, and enhancing health care system. 

The manifesto also promised several measures to boost the economy like striving to bring investments worth Rs 18 lakh crore with 50 lakh jobs to be created over five years, skill training for five lakh youth who have completed higher education and a stipend of Rs 1,500 per month upon enrolment and completion of a 6-month training. It also said 35 lakh higher education students will be provided with laptops over five years. 

 Some of the key announcements were extending the popular breakfast scheme to students from sixth to eight standards benefitting an additional 15 lakh students across the state and Rs 8,000 for women from non-IT paying families to choose and buy new or replace household items they need for their family.

The manifesto also promised to increase the coverage under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme to Rs 10 lakh and expand it to families earning up to Rs 5 lakh annually.

Free Modern electric pump sets without any meters will be provided to more than 20 lakh farmers receiving free electricity, while the procurement price of paddy will be increased to Rs 3,500 per quintal and the procurement price of sugarcane will be increased to Rs. 4,500 per tonne. 

 The manifesto also promised to construct 10 lakh new concrete houses by 2030 and create four future-ready global cities around Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, and Trichy.