Chennai, Dec 30 (IANS) In a major administrative exercise ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to undertake a large-scale impact assessment of its welfare schemes by surveying nearly 1.91 crore households across the state.
The extensive survey, aimed at evaluating the reach and effectiveness of various government initiatives, will be carried out over 12 days beginning in the New Year.
The exercise will be conducted by 55,706 members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs), who will fan out across both urban and rural regions to collect household-level data. The initiative is being coordinated by the Department of Public (Mudhalvarin Mugavari) and is expected to provide a comprehensive picture of how government schemes are reaching beneficiaries on the ground.
According to a government order issued by Reeta Harish Thakkar, Secretary to the Department, the survey will assess the delivery and impact of welfare programmes using beneficiary databases maintained by the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA).
The collected data will later be analysed to fine-tune policy implementation and identify gaps in service delivery.
A high-level monitoring committee has been constituted to oversee the process. The committee includes the Additional Chief Secretaries of the Rural Development and Revenue Departments, the Principal Secretary of the Information Technology Department, the Chief Executive Officer of TNeGA, and the Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women (TNCDW).
As per official data, Tamil Nadu has a total of 2.26 crore ration cards, of which 89.03 lakh are in urban areas and 1.37 crore in rural regions. Out of these, 1.57 crore households are currently receiving one or more welfare benefits.
The survey is expected to cover approximately 1.90 crore households across the state. The government has allocated Rs 43.52 crore for the exercise, including Rs 21 crore earmarked for the TNCDW. Each SHG member will be assigned 30 households per day and will receive a remuneration of Rs 6,000 for the 12-day survey period.
Surveyors will be provided with identity cards and will use a dedicated mobile application developed by TNeGA, alongside physical forms, to collect data.
Officials said the findings will help the government assess ground-level outcomes, streamline welfare delivery, and strengthen the effectiveness of social protection programmes ahead of future policy decisions.
–IANS
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