In an apparent thanks-giving gesture to the Muslim voters, the Mamata Banerjee Government has decided to provide special Roza food package during the month of Ramzan. The Government has already made necessary arrangements for the purpose.
The food packet will be distributed in the form of rice sugar, flour, dal and other associated items twice during the one month intervening June 5 and July 6 from ration shops throughout the State.
About 30 percent of voters in Bengal come from the minority community which had reportedly backed the Trinamool Congress in the recently concluded State elections.
“Food packets will be available twice in during the one month starting June 5 to July 6,” State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Jyoti Priya Mullick said adding “the food packet will contain sugar, flour” etc apart from rice and will cost lesser than their usual price in the open market. The ration shops have been issued the requisite directions.
Mullick said the Government had procured about 35 lakh tones of rice for this season and is likely to procure another 10 lakh tones. “This is the highest procurement ever he said adding the State which earlier had a storage capacity of 48,000 tonnes now has a capacity of 5,91,000 tonnes,” Mullick said adding the State was increasing the wtorage facility by another 1.8 lakh tones.
On the approximate expenditure for arranging food packets during the Ramzan month the Food Ministry sources said it could be to the tune of Rs 14 crore.
“This step will immensely help the poor Muslims who find it hard to handle their expenses during the Ramzan month. We must thank Mamata Banerjee for taking care of the minorities and not only playing game in the name of secularism,” said an Imam of a prominent Kolkata mosque.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident the Bengal opposition parties on Friday attacked the Trinamool Government for its “double standards” by “not uttering a word against the Central Government's lack of initiative in controlling price rise.”
Holding a joint press conference State Opposition leader Abdul Mannan and CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakrabarty, said the Trinamool is conducting itself in quite expected lines as “the Chief Minister has not spared a word against increasing prices.”
The Opposition also attacked the Government for failing to control the ongoing post-poll violence in the State where hundreds of people have been injured and thousands of houses ransacked and burnt down.