DMK ‘served’ sub-standard rice to keep promise: Tamil Nadu voters

The Re1 per kg rice, announced with much fanfare by the DMK in its 2006 election manifesto, may not swing votes in the ruling party’s favour on April 13.

Ramachandran, a salesman at the handloom showroom near the Madurai Meenakshi Temple, told DNA that he and his family voted for DMK because of the Re1 per kg rice scheme.

However, he said, “What they gave us was rice which emits foul smell when boiled. It also required three times more fuel than what was used in cooking normal rice.”

Ayyavu, an autorickshaw driver, said the same thing. “We stopped buying ration rice because of the poor quality,” he said.

B Vikraman, Madurai district leader of the CPM, said there were instances of rice meant for distribution through ration shops finding its way to Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

“Lot of rice meant for distribution through ration shops was also exported through Tuticorin Port to Maldives to be used as cattle feed,” he alleged.

“The only groups benefited by this scheme are ration shops and mill owners who processed the ration rice and sold it in open market. The rice thus supplied found its way to hotels in the form of processed rice,” Ramachandran said.

A senior official said the rice was being procured by the state’s civil supplies corporation at Rs16 per kg. “This is the kind of rice which even animals will not eat. The scheme itself is a big fraud committed on Tamil Nadu people,” the official said.

The DMK in its manifesto for the April 13 assembly election has declared that it would continue the Re1 per kg rice and also distribute free 35 kg rice every month to every BPL card holder.