PRESS RELEASE State Council meeting on the Development Action Plan for Adi Dravidars and Tribal Welfare held under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru S. Joseph Vijay ------ The State Council meeting on the Development Action Plan for Adi Dravidars and Tribal Welfare was held today (4.8.2026) at the Secretariat, under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru S. Joseph Vijay. To ensure that funds allocated for the welfare of Adi Dravidars and Tribals reach them in full, the Development Action Plan Act (Tamil Nadu Government Act 20/2024) was enacted on 29.05.2024. Accordingly, a State Council, chaired by the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, was constituted to monitor whether the funds allocated under the Development Action Plan for Adi Dravidars and Tribals reach them properly. In line with the Government's "Semmai Thamizhagam" vision programme, which envisages that funds allocated for the welfare of Adi Dravidars and Tribals should reach them in full, the first meeting of the State Council for the financial year 2026-27 was held today under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Under the interim budget estimate for 2026-27, various schemes are being implemented by 48 department headquarters across 23 departments of the Government. Of these, an expenditure of Rs.5,903.51 crore has been incurred for the Adi Dravidar welfare scheme, and Rs.349 crore for the Tribal welfare scheme. At this meeting, details of beneficiaries and the amounts utilised were reviewed. At this State Council meeting, approval was given to the Development Action Plan for the financial year 2026-27. Further, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu directed that the funds allocated under the Development Action Plan should be fully utilised for the benefit of the intended beneficiaries, and that the implementation of the scheme should be fully monitored. The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu also directed that the monthly expenditure details, progress reports, and beneficiary details of the departments implementing the earmarked funds under the Development Action Plan for Adi Dravidars and Tribals must be regularly uploaded, without fail, on the Development Action Plan website (https://www.adtwdap.tn.gov.in). Further, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu directed all department secretaries and heads of departments to identify obstacles hindering the progress of Adi Dravidars and Tribals, offer appropriate recommendations to remove them, and swiftly prepare the required schemes. The State Council meeting was attended by Hon'ble Minister for Social Justice Thiru Sunny Arasu, Hon'ble Minister for Finance, Planning and Development Thiru Senthil Marimuthu Vikraman, Hon'ble Minister for Forests Thiru R.V. Ranjith Kumar, Member of Parliament Dr. Thoo. Ravikumar, MLAs Tmt. Tha. Latha, Thiru K. Marimuthu, Thiru Po. Chandrasekar, Tmt. V.P. Tamilselvi, Chief Secretary Dr. M. Vaikundam, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary of Finance Department Thiru M.A. Siddique, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary of Planning and Development Department Tmt. Sandhya Venugopal Varma, IAS, Secretary of Social Justice Department Dr. N. Subbaiyan, IAS, State Council members Dr. V.A. Rameshnathan, Thiru D. Navaneetha Sivakumar, Tmt. M. Ramya, and other senior government officials. Released by: Director, Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Chennai-9