Govt spending Rs 2,270 cr for rice distribution: Vemula

Around 16,257 new ration cards were sanctioned in Nizamabad district in addition to the existing 3.90 lakh card holders.

Nizamabad: Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy on Monday said ration cards were given to 70 per cent of poor people in the State.

Following requests from people, as many as 3.9 lakh new ration cards were sanctioned in addition to the existing 87 lakh cards across the State. With these 90 lakh cards, 2.90 crore people would be benefited, he said.

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Around 16,257 new ration cards were sanctioned in Nizamabad district in addition to the existing 3.90 lakh card holders. The State government in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh used to give only 20 kg rice to four family members. But the State government was giving six kg rice to each family member without fixing a cap on number of family members and the credit would go to the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, he said. The State government was spending Rs 2,270 crore for distributing rice to the poor people.

He questioned why is Congress and BJP ruled States not implementing various schemes including KCR kits, Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi-Mubarak introduced in Telangana along with Rs 2,000 pension scheme.

Prashanth Reddy said he was helping poor by getting money sanctioned from Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF). “Why is MP Dharmapuri Arvind not helping people by getting funds from Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF)?,” he asked.

“Under CMRF, Rs 3 crore were sanctioned in the last two years with the support of the Chief Minister,” he said adding that Rs 7 crore was sanctioned for hospital expenses in Balkonda constituency. MP Arvind should also get funds under PMNRF.

He said BJP leaders time and again speak about Hindutva and asked how many temples they had constructed so far. “We constructed 30 temples in the constituency,” he said. The infrastructure has improved significantly in rural areas after the TRS government came to power, the Minister said, adding that the Dalit Bandhu scheme would remain in the history.