Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has announced a gift pack of six essential and other commodities for the ensuing Sankranti festival for BPL families in the State.
Making an announcement in the Legislative Assembly here on Tuesday, Mr. Naidu said the gift pack worth Rs.220 would contain half kg each of red gram, palmolein oil and jaggery, one kg each of whole Bengal gram, wheat flour and 100 gm of ghee.
The pack would be given to 1.3 crore poor families through fair price shops and the exercise would cost the exchequer Rs.287 crore. This would be in addition to the regular items given through public distribution system such as 20 kg rice, One kg wheat, half-kg sugar, two litres of kerosene in rural areas and four litres in urban areas.
Extending Christmas, New Year and Sankranti greetings to people, Mr. Naidu admitted that it would be a burden financially yet the government wanted to send out a message that it intended to bring cheer into the lives of poor.
Mr. Naidu indicated that more benefits would be extended to them in future. A proposal was under consideration to give five kg rice per head to white cardholders irrespective of members in a family from April 1, he said.
