The State Government has decided to provide 25 kg of rice to all the Poor and left-Out (PlO) families spread over 19 districts at the subsidised rate of Rs 1 per kg from August 2014 to March 2015, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma announced in the State Assembly on Wednesday.
He said 6,23,528 poor and left-out families in these districts, identified by the Central Government, had been provided with 25 kg of rice at the rate of Rs 1 per Kg till June 2014.
He made the statement in the wake of the allegation of Congress members that the Government had stopped distribution of the cheap rice to the PlO families for the last three months without assigning any reason.
Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati and his party colleague Bhujabal Majhi had demanded that the Government take steps to provide rice to the families at the earliest.
However, the Minister did not give any reason for the stopping of the distribution of the PlO rice and whether to provide the rice for the month of July.