Amid complaints about the quality of products distributed, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin directed ministers, district collectors, MPs, and MLAs to ensure that the state government’s Pongal gift hampers are distributed to ration cardholders with “quality products.”
In a statement, the Chief Minister said his government decided to provide gift hampers worth Rs 1,297 crore to 2.15 crore ration cardholders in the state, despite the “difficult” financial situation on the occasion of Pongal, which will be celebrated from January 13 to January 16 this year.
“I inspected a few ration shops to see for myself how the gift hampers are being distributed. The gift hampers are quite popular among the people, and a few people are spreading false information on the scheme with an ulterior motive. So, we should ensure that people get quality products and that the hampers are distributed properly,” Stalin said in the statement.
He also directed ministers, MLAs, MPs, and district collectors to monitor the distribution of the Pongal gift hampers in their respective constituencies and districts and ensure that people get quality products for the festival.
The Chief Minister’s statement comes after complaints of “low quality” grocery products being part of the gift hamper which consists of rice, ghee, different varieties of dhal, and sugar cane.
Pongal, the harvest festival, will be celebrated on January 14 this year and the government decided to provide a gift hamper with 21 grocery items, including 100 gm of ghee produced by state-owned Aavin, to 2.15 crore ration cardholders.
The AIADMK government had in 2019 and 2021 added a cash gift along with the hampers distributed for Pongal. However, the DMK government decided to drop the cash part from the hamper.
The grocery items are packed inside a cloth bag that says ‘Tamizhar Thirunaal Vaazthukkal’ (Tamil festival greetings) and does not contain the name Pongal. Many scholars describe Pongal as the festival of Tamils.
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