Tamil Nad

Stalin demands free rice till November

Opposition leader and DMK chief M.K. Stalin on Saturday wanted to know why Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who claimed to have followed the Centre on disaster management, had announced free rice for the poor for just one month.

“When the Centre has announced that 5 kg rice and 1kg dhal would be given free to the poor till November, the act of the AIADMK government [restricting it to July] is inhuman,” he said. Mr. Stalin said that the Tamil Nadu government should also distribute free rice and other provisions till November.

He also urged the Chief Minister to come out with a report on the purchase of medical equipment since Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had claimed that her government had allotted ₹6,600 crore to Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Stalin said that there was no clarity on the purchase of medical equipment since the Chief Minister demanded ₹3,000 crore from the Centre while Ms. Sitharaman had announced the release of ₹6,600 crore. “A section of the media, quoting the Health Department officials, say the Centre has sanctioned only ₹1,500 crore. Let the Chief Minister clarify,” he said.

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