Chennai, Apr 14 (PTI) The state government’s administration is social justice-driven, implementing integrated welfare schemes for the advancement of Adi Dravidar and Tribal communities, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said here on Monday.

In his speech at the Samathuva Naal function commemorating the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, organised by the Department of Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Stalin paid rich tributes to the architect of the Indian Constitution.

Following the path of Periyar E V Ramasamy, Ambedkar, C N Annadurai, and M Karunanidhi, he said his government was working as “a social justice-driven administration” implementing integrated welfare schemes for the advancement of Adi Dravidar and Tribal (SC/STs) communities.

The Dravidian model government has achieved countless milestones and as a result, the number of Adi Dravidar and Tribal students in higher education institutions in Chennai continues to rise annually, he said and listed several initiatives and achievements.

It includes ensuring optimal allocation of funds proportional to population percentages and launch of the Ayothidasa Pandithar Housing Development Scheme with Rs 1,000 crore to improve basic amenities in Adi Dravidar habitations.

The government firmly believed that the development of a community is reflected in how its students are supported. “Hence, we not only introduce various educational schemes but also build many hostels to support them.” Before attending this event, the CM said he inaugurated a student hostel named after one of Tamil Nadu’s foremost leaders, MC Raja, at Saidapet here. He was the first nominated member from the Scheduled Castes in the Madras Legislative Council and played a pivotal role in bringing their grievances before British authorities.

“A reformer of the Adi Dravida Mahajana Sabha, a founder of the Justice Party, and a former minister in the 1937 interim government of Madras Province, MC Raja’s legacy lives on. This newly inaugurated hostel will provide aspiring students with a place to pursue education with dedication…I am proud to announce here that a life-size statue of the great leader MC Raja will soon be installed at the front of the hostel…The MC Raja hostel will undoubtedly be of great support.” As Ambedkar rightly said, “The progress of a society is measured by the progress of its women.” Hence, the government launched the Nannilam land purchase scheme to help women agricultural labourers from the Adi Dravidar community become landowners. Over the last two years, 625 beneficiaries have received subsidies worth Rs 30 crore under this scheme.

The Free Bus Travel Scheme for Women, a flagship initiative of the government, “has particularly benefited our sisters from the Adi Dravidar community.” In order to enhance women’s livelihoods, the state has raised the subsidy limit under the TAHDCO scheme from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.

Under the Ambedkar Entrepreneurship Development Scheme, the government has supported 3,950 entrepreneurs with Rs 630 crore in loans, of which Rs 403 crore is subsidy. Among them, 1,000 are women entrepreneurs. Under the Sanitation Workers’ Entrepreneurial Development Scheme, 468 beneficiaries have received Rs 89.71 crore in subsidies.

The Tholkudi scheme has been implemented for the livelihoods of tribal people with an annual allocation of Rs 250 crore over four years, totaling Rs 1,000 crore, the chief minister noted.

Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Ambedkar, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, Ministers EV Velu, Mathiventhan, TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan and DMK deputy general secretary and MP, A Raja took part.

The chief minister said: “Today marks a historically significant day — the birth anniversary of a revolutionary who challenged caste discrimination, untouchability, and social injustice and rewrote history with his activism. That is why under our Dravidian model governance, we have declared the birth anniversary of Thanthai Periyar as Social Justice Day, and today, the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar, as the Day of Equality.” The Dravidian movement has always celebrated Ambedkar and Periyar published the Tamil translation of Ambedkar’s “Annihilation of Caste” as early as 1930. In a first in the country, the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi named a law college after Ambedkar; it was during the agitation to name the Marathwada University after Ambedkar in Maharashtra.

“We have continually reaffirmed that Dr Ambedkar symbolises our identity. His grandson, Prakash Ambedkar, who has voiced the concerns of the marginalised in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, has honoured us with his presence and speech today. I express my heartfelt gratitude to him,” the CM said. PTI VGN KH