How Karunanidhi funded his scheme to stamp out hand-rickshaws in T.N.
In 1973, the government decided to gift rickshaw-pullers with cycle-rickshaws to mark the Chief Minister’s birthday on June 3. The cost of the scheme was put at ₹22 lakh. A sum of ₹20 lakh, including ₹17.5 lakh donated by merchants, was handed over to him on his 50th birthday. The rest came from his friends and admirers, says a report in The Hindu