Tamil Nadu Govt to Provide Vehicles and Monthly Allowances to All MLAs

Chennai: In an announcement made in the legislative assembly under Rule 110 on Wednesday, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay declared that the state government will provide vehicles to all Members of the Legislative Assembly to facilitate their public service and constituency visits.

Along with the vehicles, the government will sanction a monthly vehicle allowance of ₹75,000 to cover fuel expenses, driver salaries, and vehicle maintenance. In addition, legislators will receive ₹25,000 per month to hire an assistant for constituency-level and office-related administrative duties.

The announcement follows a request raised in the assembly on August 12 by VCK MLA from Kattumannarkoil, L E Jothimani, who pointed out that several legislators do not own vehicles and face significant difficulties in travelling across their constituencies to meet constituents.

Addressing the House, Chief Minister Vijay stated that the initiative is intended to enable legislators to continue their public work without logistical challenges. He noted that the number of first-time MLAs elected from modest backgrounds without substantial financial or political backing has increased significantly in recent times.

Vijay said providing vehicles would empower MLAs to travel independently to rural and remote localities, meet residents directly, and address civic grievances on the ground. He added that the financial assistance aims to lessen the economic burden on elected representatives and support honest, transparent, and corruption-free governance at the grassroots level.

The Chief Minister informed the assembly that amendments to the relevant legislation would be introduced before formal executive orders are issued. During the proceedings, Modakurichi MLA D Shanmugan suggested that the government consider providing Innova model vehicles to the lawmakers.