Chennai: Tamilnadu Food Minister R Chakrapani has announced that a full sugarcane will also be given to all the rice ration card holders and Sri Lankan Tamils living in rehabilitation camps along with the Pongal gift hampers.
Earlier in the GO there was no mention about distribution of sugarcane asĀ part of the package, though it has been given last year.
Based on request from farmers, Chief Minister M K Stalin has given the nod for giving one full sugarcane, the main ingredient for the Pongal festival, as part of the package.
The gift hampers will be distributed to the beneficiaries ahead of PongalĀ festival, the Minister said.
Meanwhile, AIADMK joint coordinator and Leader of the Opposition in theĀ State Assembly Edappadi K Palaniswami urged the government to provideĀ financial assistance along with the Pongal package as has been done byĀ the previous AIADMK regime headed by him.
Stalin on Tuesday announced gift hampers totalling Rs. 1,088 crore for family cardholders and Lankan Tamils living in rehabilitation camps in view of the upcoming Pongal festival in January 2022. In all, 2,15,48,060 family cardholders and Lankan Tamil families will receive these hampers.
The gift hamper would consist of 20 items — raw rice, jaggery, cashew nuts, dry grapes, cardamom, moong dal and ghee required for preparing sweet pongal, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, mustard, jeera, pepper, tamarind, Bengal gram, urad dal, rava, wheat flour, salt and a cloth bag, a release said.
The gift hampers will be disbursed to the beneficiaries ahead of Pongal festival.