Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday announced a monthly stipend of Rs 3,000 to junior lawyers newly enrolled at the Bar for two years, to help them overcome financial difficulties, PTI reported. The stipend has been a longstanding demand of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu, along with that of Puducherry.

“Several young [law] graduates, mostly with rural or poor background, find it difficult to sustain and as a result, they change profession for a regular income,” Palaniswami said while announcing the stipend. The chief minister added that many young lawyers cannot pursue their ambitions due to lack of a steady income. Palaniswami said the allowance will enable law graduates to pursue their dream career.

Palaniswami recalled that former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran launched a scheme in 1987 to provide compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the families of lawyers who had died. “In 2012, Amma [late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa] enhanced the sum to Rs 5.25 lakhs,” he said. “On January 30, 2018, I had ordered increasing the sum further to Rs 7 lakh.”