Applicable from June 22, 2026, the programme will be inaugurated on September 15. It complements existing maternity benefits and kits while promoting government hospitals as a preferred and dignified choice for childbirth. (A representative picture)

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The Tamil Nadu government has launched the Thaimaaman Thanga Mothiram Thittam, a welfare initiative under which eligible newborns delivered in government health institutions will receive a one-gram gold ring.A Government Order issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department on Tuesday sanctioned ₹756 crore to implement the scheme.High institutional delivery rate underlines scale of implementationThe State records around 7.8 lakh deliveries every year, with institutional deliveries constituting 99.9 per cent of all births. Among this, government health facilities account for nearly 4.2 lakh deliveries (53 per cent), reflecting the central role of the public health system in providing maternal and newborn health care services, the order said.Scheme aims to boost trust in public healthcare institutionsThe scheme’s objective is to elevate public healthcare settings from a baseline necessity to a preferred destination of pride and celebration, with dignity at birth, and to reclaim government institutional deliveries by offering a high-value, permanent, tangible benefit that complements the existing maternity cash benefits and material kits, the order said.Only residents of the Tamil Nadu scheme and all pregnant mothers delivering at government institutions will be eligible for the scheme, the order said.Launch date set for September 15, eligibility from June 22, 2026The scheme will be inaugurated by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on September 15, the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister CN Annadurai, and shall be applicable to all eligible newborns born from June 22, 2026, onwards, the order says.Published on June 23, 2026