DMK, AIADMK release election manifestos

DMK president M K Stalin released the party's election manifesto in Chennai on Tuesday morning. 

Mr Stalin said his party favours sharing of sixty per cent of the total tax revenue with state governments. He said Employees Pension Scheme would be revamped so that its subscribers would get eight thousand rupees per month as the monthly pension after retirement. 

He also said the old pension scheme for government employees would be restored. He promised actions for enhancing per capita income to one and a half lakh rupees.

Mr Stalin said petroleum products would be brought under administered pricing mechanism to control price rise. He assured that education would be brought back to the state list and NEET system for medical admission would be repealed. 

Other highlights of the manifesto are free bus and rail passes for



school and college students, writing off educational loans, abolition of toll plazas across National Highways after their expiry period, interlinking of rivers in southern India, fifty thousand rupees loan for BPL category women to launch micro-enterprises and metro rail services for Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy and Salem.

AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam also released the party manifesto on Tuesday.

The manifesto promises writing off of educational loans and interlinking of rivers to divert excess water to drought-prone areas. 

It says the party would urge the Center to extend reservation and other concessions to all SC, ST people irrespective of their faith. Monthly financial assistance of one thousand five hundred rupees to all BPL families including destitute women is another feature in the manifesto.