The 'Urban Wage Employment Programme' to improve the earnings and livelihood of the urban poor, announced by the Tamil Nadu Government during the Assembly budget session, is all set to take off with the Municipal Administration and Water Supply department notifying the scheme guidelines on October 13. Last year, the high-level panel headed by the economist and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Dr. C. Rangarajan, tasked to study the impact of the Covid-19 induced lockdown on the state economy and to suggest measures to revive growth, had recommended implementation of a special programme to provide 'wage employment' for the urban poor. This was to be on the lines of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) programme. The job scheme will take off in two zones in the Greater Chennai Corporation area and in one zone each in the other Municipal Corporations including Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Trichy and Tirunelveli among others. At least one Municipality each under the seven regional directorate of municipal administration and one Town Panchayat in each of the 37 districts will also take up this scheme for implementation in the...