MUMBAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi has unveiled the free Colour TV Scheme for the poor. Fulfilling his party's poll promise, the DMK president distributed 25,245 colour TV sets worth about Rs 90 million were given to the residents of Samathuvapuram (a colony of all communities and creeds) at Thundalkazhani village in Padappai in Kanchipuram district.

The CM has been quoted in media reports as saying that, Rs 7.5 billion had already been allocated in the state budget for distributing 25 lakh colour TV sets. He said the scheme would be implemented in phases as it was not possible to distribute all the 2.5 million sets in a single day.

Karunanidhi's cabinet colleagues would begin the distribution of the colour TVs in other districts, barring Madurai where the code of conduct had come into force for the 11 October 11 Assembly byelections, on 16 September.

Finance minister K Anbazhagan is scheduled to launch the scheme in Madurai, while local administration minister M K Stalin would distribute the TV sets at Enathur Samathuvapuram, also in Kancheepuram District. Electricity minister Arcot N Veerasamy would hand over the TVs to those living in slum clearance board tenements in Pursawalkam and Kotturpuram in the city.