CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M.Karunanidhi on Wednesday explained the economics behind his promise of a colour television to each house without one; two acres of land for landless labourers and rice at Rs.2 a kilo, and said the total amount spent on these could be absorbed easily in a Rs.30,000 crore budget.

He said there were 1.5 crore ration card holders in the State. Each cardholder was entitled to 20 kg rice a month. At present, it was being sold at Rs.3.50 a kg. If the price were reduced to Rs.2, the additional subsidy burden would be Rs.1.50 per kg. For the 30 crore kg that would be dispensed through the Public Distribution System, the additional subsidy would be Rs.45 crore. This would come to Rs.540 crore annually.

Again, the State had 55 lakh acres of wasteland. There were attempts by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government to give this to the rich and land sharks, he said. As these attempts were on, the elections were announced. If the DMK came to power, this land would be given to landless farm labourers.

Refuting the claim that the free television scheme would cost Rs.15,000 crore, he said it would cost Rs.1,060 crore. Television was an important medium to educate and inform people about various developments.

Scheme implementation

Explaining how the DMK would implement the scheme if it came to power, he said there was a total of 156 lakh families in the State. Of this, 53 lakh were below the poverty line. At Rs.2,000 a television set, and assuming that all those under the poverty line needed to be given one, this scheme would cost only Rs.1,060 crore. If the DMK came to power, it would implement the programme over two years. The Government needed to spend Rs.530 crore a year.

Stressing that the schemes would not be a burden on the State, he added additional resources could be mobilised by targeting revenue generating sectors such as liquor manufacturing and trade.

He was speaking at a public meeting to mark the inauguration of the joint election campaign by the Democratic Progressive Alliance constituents here.

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