Rural Development Minister Dokka Manikya Vara Prasada Rao has said UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has taken several revolutionary steps like bringing the Right to Education Act, the Right to Information and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and asserted that she is committed to alleviating the plight of poor people.
Drawing inspiration from her, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy introduced the ‘Amma Hastam’ scheme under which essential commodities are supplied to white ration card holders at a subsidised price of just Rs 185 per pack containing nine items.
It is going to provide food security to the poor who are leading a hand-to-mouth existence. The Right to Food Bill which is set to become an Act of Parliament in the near future will save the hungry millions from deprivation, he said.
Launching ‘Amma Hastam’ at a programme held at Sri Venkateswara Vignana Mandiram here on Tuesday, Mr. Vara Prasada Rao said Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has introduced ‘Amma Hastam’ scheme to protect the poor people from the debilitating impact of inflation.
The SC/ST Sub-Plan which is the Chief Minister’s initiative has no parallels in the country. He is doing many such things for the welfare of poor.
The ‘Mana Biyyam’ scheme is another scheme that is helping the poor a lot. Under ‘Amma Hastam’, each white card holder will be enjoying a subsidy of Rs 107 per packet. The scheme entails a total expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore per year.
MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao asked the people not to believe the promises being made by TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu and YSR Congress. He claimed that the schemes that were introduced by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy are being scrupulously implemented.
In fact the present government is doing much more than that, he said and asserted that welfare is possible only with Congress.
MLC Singam Basavapunnaiah, Guntur East MLA Sk. Mastan Vali, Collector S. Suresh Kumar, Joint Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy and others were present.
