Social Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy on Wednesday hinted at not sending the file related to the procurement and distribution of free rice to the Lieutenant Governor.
“The Supreme Court has given a recent judgment. There is no need to send all files to the Lt. Governor. From next month, there will not be any disruption in supply of free rice,” he said while replying to a question raised by AIADMK member A. Anbalagan.
The Congress had been in power for the last 26 months. Due to the delay in getting approval from the Lt. Governor, the government could only provide free rice for 12 months, he said.
The delay had been caused by the objection raised by the Lt. Governor on distributing rice among all sections of people.
She wanted the distribution to be restricted to only the poor, he said.
However, legislators wanted the rice to be given to all residents as had been done by the previous government, he sad.
Raising the question, the AIADMK member said the government had set aside ₹216 crore in the last financial year for procurement of rice. The House had given its approval.
There was no need for the government to send the file again for Lt. Governor’s approval, he said.
