TN govt renames DMK’s women travel scheme, evokes criticism from DMK

Chennai, Jul 11 (PTI) The ruling TVK has renamed the DMK’s flagship scheme of free bus travel for women, 'Magalir Vidiyal Payanam', as 'Magalir Payanam', evoking a strong response from the opposition party, which said renaming does not change history. The dropped word - Vidiyal - means dawn in Tamil, and it was used extensively by the DMK during its poll campaign as part of its political branding. The free travel benefits, however, remain the same. The new name is prominently displayed on the digital destination boards of the public transport MTC and TNSTC buses. Lashing out at the state government allegedly for affixing “sticker” on the populist scheme of the Dravida model government, the party’s IT wing said the name change will not deprive the DMK of its credit for rolling out the scheme for the benefit of women. “Its like believing the marriage will stop if the comb is hidden. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay thinks that changing the name will deny credit for the DMK. He should keep up his poll promises of making bus travel free throughout the state for women,” the DMK IT wing said on ‘X’. The ruling TVK’s only achievement appears to be to talk about ushering in change, but in reality it involves altering the names of schemes brought by the DMK regime, it claimed. Former DMK legislator I Paranthamen said, whatever be the name, the scheme has been etched in women’s hearts as “Stalin’s bus”. Vidiyal was an important slogan of the DMK during the 2021 Assembly election. The unannounced move by the CM Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in removing the DMK’s political slogan from the welfare programme, caught the DMK unaware. Though the name change was swift and silent, it, however, went viral on social media with the commuters sharing photos and videos of the updated bus boards. Criticising the move, DMK leader Thangam Thennarasu remarked, “You can change the name but not history". "Changing the name of the scheme, which has made a huge difference in the daily lives of women, was not an administrative action for the benefit of the people but an attempt to erase political identity," he said on ‘X’. “The success of a project is not determined by its name but by the progress it has made in the lives of the people. The time and energy spent on name changes should be spent on new projects that improve the livelihood of the people and strengthen services,” Thennarasu said, calling the move "politically motivated". PTI JSP ROH JSP ROH