People's Welfare Front (PWF) was a Tamil-Nadu political alliance formed in October 2015. It consisted of four political parties :

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( 'Renaissance Dravidian Progressive Federation') is a political party active in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It was established by Vaiko in 1994 after he left the Dravida Munnetr ...

(MDMK),

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (; VCK) formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam (; DPI) is an Indian social movement and political party that seeks to combat caste based discrimination, active in the state ...

(VCK), Communist Party of India (CPI) and

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

(CPI-(M)). The alliance contested the 2016

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

and Puducherry legislative assembly elections as one unit. The alliance rejected potential alliance with

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

, BJP, DMK or ADMK, while hopeful of enlisting and TMC (G.K.Vasan) and Puthiya Thamizhakam. In early November the alliance led movements against price rise, atrocities against minorities and Dalits and efforts to curtail freedom of speech. It has taken a strong position in favour of liquor

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

in Tamil Nadu. Later it made an electoral alliance with DMDK and Tamil Maanila Congress.

Policies

The alliance consists of one Dravidian party (MDMK) and one Tamil party (VCK) and two leftist parties (CPI and CPI(M)). People's Welfare Front released a Common Minimum Program which all parties agreed to. The major features of the program are as below. * Oppose globalisation, liberalisation economic policies and stop the

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of state programmes and industries * Oppose

Hindutva Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), t ...

, religious extremism and religious prosecution * Oppose powers exploiting

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

– work to pass stricter laws preventing violence and discrimination against Dalits * Oppose corruption – implement Lokayukta * Implement transparent government – information about laws and programs will be released online * Increase funding and support for local governance units – implement

Right to Public Services legislation Right to Public Services legislation in India comprises statutory laws which guarantee time bound delivery of services for various public services rendered by the Government to citizen and provides mechanism for punishing the errant public servant ...

in Tamil Nadu * Stop the stealing of minerals * Promote social justice – preserve 69% reservation, expand reservation in the private sector * Mother tongue development – make

multilingual education Multilingual education typically refers to "first-language-first" education, that is, schooling which begins in the mother tongue and transitions to additional languages. Typically MLE programs are situated in developing countries where speakers of ...

("first-language-first") mandatory * Promote

folk arts Folk and traditional arts are rooted in and reflective of the cultural life of a community. They encompass the body of expressive culture associated with the fields of folklore and cultural heritage. Material culture, Tangible folk art includes ob ...

– establish a university to develop folk arts * Work for increase powers and funding for states * Work to resolve river water issues * Support Sri Lankan Tamils in pursuit of justice and rights * Law and order – prevent

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

* Protect democratic rights – fully protect

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

– fully implement liquor prohibition in Tamil Nadu * Development of agriculture and villages – provide funding and infrastructure services for farmers * Land – protect

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...

* Irrigation – maintain and modernise major

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been dev ...

systems * Homes and

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

– provide homes for all without homes * Promote crafts and small businesses * Electricity – make Tamil Nadu self-sufficient in producing electricity * Labour rights – introduce

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...

of 15,000 per month * Education – prevent privatisation of education and develop competitive public educational systems * Health – allocate 6% to health; create a multi-purpose public medical training facility in each district * Environment – implement stricter environmental standards * Employment – fill the two lakhs vacancies without corruption * Elimination of

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse < ...

– correctly identify people below poverty line (BPL) and deliver welfare services to them * Rural employment scheme – increase wages given under rural employment guarantee * City people – provide safe

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ...

, develop underground

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residenc ...

system * Women welfare – ensure that the state women commission works effectively and reports the results in the state assembly * Fishing communities welfare – stop multi-national companies (MNCs) from using sea resources; provide pensions to fishers * Minority rights – take strong actions against Hindutva religious violence and hate speech * Civil service and teachers – make part-time and shift workers permanent * Democratic reform – recommend proportional representation; work for 50% reservation for women in elected offices * Inflation – stop online and future trading activities * Public distribution – provide basic necessities including fruits and vegetables at subsidised prices * Science and Technology – build a central science and technology advanced research centre in southern Tamil Nadu * Sports – Make exercise mandatory for all levels until class 12 * Transportation – Increase number of buses to reduce congestion * Road accidents – Separate traffic by building dividers

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{Cite news , title = People's Welfare Front Formally Gets Political Stamp , newspaper = The New Indian Express , date = 3 November 2015 , accessdate = 2020-08-04 , url = https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2015/nov/03/Peoples-Welfare-Front-Formally-Gets-Political-Stamp-837956.html {{Cite web , title = PWF Demo on Rising Prices, Intolerance , website=newindianexpress.com, publisher = The Indian Express , year = 2015 , accessdate = 2015-11-07 , url =http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/PWF-Demo-on-Rising-Prices-Intolerance/2015/11/04/article3112909.ece {{Cite web , title = மக்கள் நலக் கூட்டு இயக்கம் குறைந்தபட்ச செயல்திட்டம் வரைவு அறிக்கை , website=mdmk.org.in, publisher = MDMK.org , year = 2015 , accessdate = 2015-11-08 , url =http://mdmk.org.in/article/nov15/arikai-0 Political parties in Tamil Nadu Defunct political party alliances in India 2015 establishments in Tamil Nadu Political parties established in 2015 2019 disestablishments in India Political parties disestablished in 2019