HYDERABAD: On the day Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy hailed fine rice distribution as a historic welfare scheme, Union minister and Karimnagar MP, Bandi Sanjay, on Sunday asked him to display PM Narendra Modi’s photo at ration shops, citing the Centre’s Rs 40 per kg contribution compared to the state’s Rs 10 per kg.
“We decided to supply fine rice so that every day feels like a festival for the poor. Earlier, some rice millers and middlemen bought PDS coarse rice at Rs 10 per kg and sold it back to the govt at Rs 30 per kg, causing a Rs 10,000 crore annual loss. Congress govt has put an end to this mafia,” Reddy told a public meeting in the Huzurnagar assembly seat.
The CM said six kg of fine rice would be provided to 3.1 crore people in the state .
Slamming Reddy’s claim, Bandi at a press conference said, “Congress is boasting about the fine rice bonus, but the Centre spends Rs 15,000 crore on rice procurement, while the state spends around Rs 2,000 crore. Whose photo should be displayed? It must be PM Narendra Modi’s.” Reddy also criticised former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for not providing fine rice to ration card holders.