Madurai (Tamil Nadu) | Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday launched the 22-carat one-gram gold ring scheme - Maternal Uncle Gold Ring Scheme (Thaaimaman Thanga Mothiram Thittam) - for newborn babies, fulfilling a key electoral promise.

Rolling out the scheme at the Government Rajaji hospital here, Vijay held the babies for a while and gave away the gold rings.

The government has earmarked Rs 755.83 crore for the scheme.

The welfare initiative is aimed at honouring motherhood, promote women's health and encourage institutional births by attracting more families to public healthcare.

The police have put in place a five-tier security arrangement in the city from the airport in view of the Chief Minister's multiple programmes.

The state government has already procured 1.28 lakh gold rings for the initial rollout of the programme targeting the children born in state-run hospitals, to native mothers.

The scheme applies to eligible babies born on or after June 22, 2026.