Stalin inaugurates 100 houses built under social integration scheme

Under the scheme, 40% of the houses are allotted to the Scheduled Caste community, 25% each to Backward Castes and the Most Backward Castes, and the remaining 10% to others

Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Wednesday inaugurated 100 houses built at a cost of ₹3.17 crore in the Sivaganga district under the Periyar Ninaivu Samathuvapuram (Periyar Memorial Equality Village) scheme meant to promote social integration by providing homes to people from different castes at one place.

Chief minister M K Stalin (PTI/File)

Stalin said the project was his late father and former chief minister M Karunanidhi’s dream project. Karunanidhi launched this scheme in 1997 to promote social justice.

Under the scheme, 40% of the houses are allotted to the Scheduled Caste community, 25% each to Backward Castes and the Most Backward Castes, and the remaining 10% to others. The first Samathuvapuram project was launched in 1998 in Madurai.

Stalin also unveiled a bust of Periyar, the father of the Dravidian movement, after whom the project is named. “The Periyar Ninaivu Samathuvapuram project is a noble project where people can live equally irrespective of their caste and religion,” said a statement from the government.