<p>Chennai: With an eye on the April-May assembly elections, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu has decided to dole out a cash component along with Pongal gift hampers to eligible ration card holders.</p>.<p>While Rs 1,000 was distributed to each family in 2023 and 2024, the cash component was discontinued in 2025 due to 'severe financial constraints'.</p>.<p>“The cash prize will be a substantial amount,” a source aware of the development told DH, adding that an official announcement in this regard will be made by Chief Minister M K Stalin in a couple of days.</p>.Congress is part of DMK alliance, Vijay can’t succeed: P Chidambaram.<p>Though the source refused to say how much they will receive along with the gift hampers, speculation is rife that it could be anywhere between Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000.</p>.<p>The source explained that the government has decided on the 'substantial amount', keeping in mind that there was no cash component in the Pongal hampers distributed in 2025.</p>.<p>Including the cash component, as Pongal gift is a political decision, as assembly elections are scheduled for April-May 2026. In 2021, months before the assembly elections, the AIADMK government handed out Rs 2,500 to each family.</p>.<p>The move also comes at a time when the Tamil Nadu government is under criticism from several quarters over its increasing debt, which currently stands at Rs 9.21 lakh crore. As the principal opposition party from 2016-2021, the DMK government tore into the AIADMK for the state’s growing debt.</p>.<p>DMK leaders said the Pongal cash gift, which will be in addition to the Rs 1,000 cash assistance to over 1.31 crore women, will help the party reach out to families ahead of the elections.</p>
<p>Chennai: With an eye on the April-May assembly elections, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu has decided to dole out a cash component along with Pongal gift hampers to eligible ration card holders.</p>.<p>While Rs 1,000 was distributed to each family in 2023 and 2024, the cash component was discontinued in 2025 due to 'severe financial constraints'.</p>.<p>“The cash prize will be a substantial amount,” a source aware of the development told DH, adding that an official announcement in this regard will be made by Chief Minister M K Stalin in a couple of days.</p>.Congress is part of DMK alliance, Vijay can’t succeed: P Chidambaram.<p>Though the source refused to say how much they will receive along with the gift hampers, speculation is rife that it could be anywhere between Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000.</p>.<p>The source explained that the government has decided on the 'substantial amount', keeping in mind that there was no cash component in the Pongal hampers distributed in 2025.</p>.<p>Including the cash component, as Pongal gift is a political decision, as assembly elections are scheduled for April-May 2026. In 2021, months before the assembly elections, the AIADMK government handed out Rs 2,500 to each family.</p>.<p>The move also comes at a time when the Tamil Nadu government is under criticism from several quarters over its increasing debt, which currently stands at Rs 9.21 lakh crore. As the principal opposition party from 2016-2021, the DMK government tore into the AIADMK for the state’s growing debt.</p>.<p>DMK leaders said the Pongal cash gift, which will be in addition to the Rs 1,000 cash assistance to over 1.31 crore women, will help the party reach out to families ahead of the elections.</p>