Summary:
The AIADMK promises 1,500 a month to all those living below the poverty line - destitute women, widows without income, differently abled, landless agricultural labourers, rural and urban manual labourers and destitute senior citizens. The party's manifesto says it is "a minimum and necessary initiative to address the problem of dehumanizing poverty in the country". A dozen states, in recent years, announced farm loan waivers adding up to Rs 2.3 lakh crore. Free higher education to all children should be a national policy, says the AIADMK manifesto.Both parties would push for raising the income tax exemption limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. The DMK, on its part, says interest-free loan of 50,000 per head would be given to rural women below the poverty line to help them start small businesses..