Tamil Nadu’s Karunanidhi government has reached out to people with a unique offer: a Rs 517-crore state health insurance scheme for 1 crore poor families. In a grand gesture, the CM also said that his house will be turned into a free hospital. CNBC-TV18’s Meenakshi Madhavan reports.

After free colour TVs and rice at Re 1 per kg, DMK chief K Karunanidhi has another gift for Tamil Nadu’s poor. He’s now giving them health cover! Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was in the state to inaugurate the Kalaignar Insurance Scheme for life-saving treatments. The scheme will benefit 1 crore poor families who can now avail of medical services up to Rs 1 lakh. The premium of Rs 500 per year will be paid for by the government.

“If the Kalaignar Insurance Scheme for life-saving treatments reduces the out-of-pocket expenditure of poor households and ensures quality health services for them, it would have alleviated the pauperization of poor households as health expenses are one of the leading causes for families remaining poor,” Health Minister Azad said.

Star insurance, a private insurance provider, will implement the scheme. It has already identified six hospitals in each district and 15 hospitals in each major city where the scheme will be made available.

“The DMK believes in starting schemes that will help the needy,” Karunanidhi has said.

It’s yet another populist measure from a party known for its sops. The CM has said that after he and his wife dies, he wants a free hospital to be built on the land he owns in his native village. He also wants his Chennai house to be converted into a free hospital. This one is sure to take Karunanidhi closer to the masses.