Stalin advertises sugar cane in Pongal gift basket after criticism from opposition and farmers

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MP Stalin announced on Wednesday that a full candy cane will be provided to all state ration card holders along with the gift basket promised earlier on the occasion of the Pongal harvest festival to be celebrated next month.

A few days ago, the government said that ration card holders, including those residing in Sri Lankan rehabilitation camps, would receive a Pongal gift basket comprising 1 kg of rice, 1 kg of sugar and 1,000 rupees in cash.

The decision of the DMK-led governments to exclude sugarcane from the gift basket drew a strong reaction from many political parties, including AIADMK, BJP and NTK.

The state’s main opposition, AIADMK, announced that it would hold a protest in Tiruvannamalai on January 2 to condemn the ruling government. A PIL has also been filed with the Madras High Court asking the state government to consider including the candy cane alongside the Pongal gift basket.

Going a step further, the farmers, while speaking to the media, claimed that they would suffer a huge loss if the government did not buy sugar cane from them to distribute to the public for the festival.

The government then released a statement in which it said that based on farmers’ demand, a full candy cane would be included along with other gifts for Pongal. It was noted that instead of January 2, Stalin will inaugurate the distribution event on January 9.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Cooperation Minister KR Periyakaruppan said that to avoid long queues outside public distribution system (PDS) stores, the government would distribute tokens in stores from January 3 to 8. .

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