Trichy:
The DMK has unveiled its great election sop yatra. A promise of 21 lakh free concrete houses for Tamil Nadu's rural poor by 2016.
''This year we have allocated Rs 1,800 crore for this scheme,'' said M Karunanidhi,
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.
The first three lakh houses will be built by end 2010. Each at a cost of 60,000 rupees.
No clarification has been given on how this housing scheme will be financed, no vehement denial has been made that it's a blatant election sop.
''Even assuming it's having an eye on the Assembly polls, it will change the face of Tamil Nadu's villages,'' said M. K. Kanimozhi, MP, DMK.
For the 2006 elections, DMK offered free colour TVs to the poor - at a total cost of Rs 2,500 crore.
Despite the free colour television promise the DMK could not win a majority last time. This time the stakes are much higher as many of its allies have walked out. The ruling DMK doesn't want to take any chances. But experts say these populist projects only scuttle the state's development.