Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian on Tuesday told the Assembly that the State government will take steps to explore the possibility of implementing a scheme to provide monthly financial assistance for children living with HIV/AIDS in Tamil Nadu.
The Minister was responding to Kadayanallur MLA C. Krishnamurali, who urged the Department of Health and Family Welfare to implement such a scheme for the welfare of children living with HIV.
Mr. Subramanian said the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Tamil Nadu stands at 1,57,908, of which a total of 1,41,341 individuals have been provided free medical treatment at 76 Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centres functioning across the State.
Currently, there is no financial assistance scheme implemented by the Department of Health and Family Welfare for individuals affected by HIV. However, through the Revenue Department, under the Chief Minister’s Uzhavar Pathukappu Thittam, farmers affected by HIV are given a monthly pension of ₹1,000, he said.
In 2009, then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi launched a trust fund with a corpus of ₹5 crore for children affected by HIV/AIDS. That fund has now grown to ₹25 crore. Under this fund, nearly ₹1.89 crore was spent in the financial year 2024-25 to support 7,618 children under the age of 18 for education and healthcare, the Health Minister said.
With regard to welfare schemes offered by the Social Welfare Department, financial assistance has been increased from ₹1,000 to ₹1,200 for senior citizens and from ₹1,000 to ₹1,500 for persons with disabilities. For those with 75% disability, it has been increased to ₹2,000, the Minister added.
Published – April 16, 2025 12:33 pm IST
