Chennai: Hours after hitting the campaign trail for the Assembly elections due in 4-5 months time, Tamilnadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday announced that the free special Pongal package along with a cash incentive of Rs 2,500 will be distributed to all the ration card holders in the State from January four to enable them to celebrate the harvest festival in January next year.
The announcement was made at an event after he started his poll campaign in his native Edappadi constituency in Salem district.
Recalling the government’s recent announcement allowing the cardholders to switch the rice cards from sugar cards, he said this would benefit 2.6 crore rice cardholders in the State and the package would be distributed at the ration shops from 4 January onwards.
Recalling the package comprising one kg raw rice, one kg sugar, a piece of sugarcane, 20 gms of cashew and dry grapes and five gram of cardamom, along with Rs 1,000 cash given earlier, he said this time the cash assistance would be enhanced to Rs 2,500.
He also announced that one full sugarcane would be given this time instead of one piece as given earlier.
It would be given to the ration card holders in the State before the harvest festival, that falls on 15 January, 2021.
He said the Tamil festival was not only celebrated as a harvest festival, but was celebrated as an occasion to hail the farmers, who feed the people and the farmers thanking the Sun God for a good harvest.
Pongal was the traditional and main festival of Tamils, marking the birth of auspicious Tamil month ‘Thai’ and was celebrated with a lot of fervour and traditional gaiety.
After decorating the courtyards and drawing colourful Rangolis, the households prepare Pongal, a sweet delicacy made of rice, milk and jaggery and the festival would last four days and culminate with ‘Kaanum Pongal’.