The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has announced a Rs 1,000 monthly wage for ration cardholder housewives, among other promises if the party was voted to power in the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

The announcement was made by DMK president M K Stalin while releasing his party’s 10-year vision document listing promises for the development of the state where the party, in opposition for a decade now, is taking on the incumbent AIADMK-BJP alliance in the single-phase election for 234 seats on April 6.

"For all the women family heads in Tamil Nadu, we are going to provide every month Rs 1,000 'rights' assistance. As a result, all the families that get food (essential) commodities from Public Distribution Outlets would be benefited for sure," Stalin said at a rally near Trichy on March 7.

Stalin, whose party is contesting polls with the Congress, said this would benefit all families that get essential commodities from the Public Distribution Outlets.

Experts said with around 2.8 crore ration cards in Tamil Nadu, Rs 1000 per card per month would mean an annual expenditure of around Rs 33,600 crore.

“That is more than the amount spent on health, water supply, housing, urban development together,” political commentator Sumanth Raman said in a tweet.

Doles by political parties for ration cardholders is not a new thing in Tamil Nadu. In December last year chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced that all rice ration card holders of Tamil Nadu would be given Rs2,500 cash along with a gift hamper for Pongal, the harvest festival. The announcement was made within hours of Palaniswami launching the AIADMK’s assembly poll campaign from his home constituency of Edappadi in Salem district. DMK president Stalin had alleged that the announcement was made with an eye on the elections.

Makkal Needhi Maiam chief and actor Kamal Haasan had promised 'payment' to women for their work at home as part of his party's economic agenda three months ago.

According to the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, there are around 1,96,16,093 holders of five categories of ration cards across the state.

Among other promises in DMK’s vision statement includes, creation of 10 lakh jobs every year, eradication of poverty, increase in the area of double-crop cultivation from 10 lakh acre to 20 lakh acres, construction of 20 lakh concrete houses, and broadband connectivity in all Tamil Nadu villages.

Tamil Nadu assembly elections will be different for both DMK and AIADMK, as they will be fighting the polls without their veteran leaders and former chief ministers M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa.

AIADMK, under Jayalalithaa, won the 2016 assembly polls by bagging 136 seats. Jayalalithaa, however, died in December 2016.

After tough negotiations that stretched for days, the DMK on March 7 allotted 25 assembly seats and the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency to its key ally, the Congress.