Rs two per kg rice' to be launced tomorrow in AP

Hyderabad, Apr 8 (UNI) The stage is set for the launch of 'Rs two per kg rice scheme' by the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, tomorrow.

Speaking on the eve of the launch of the scheme, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy said over 1.85 crore white ration card holders in the state, covering 85 per cent of the state's population, would be benefitted by the scheme. Those living Below Poverty Line (BPL) would be provided two to three months one kg of redgram at Rs 30 and equal quantity of cooking oil at Rs 60, he added.

State Finance Minister K Rosaiah told reporters that the subsidy burden on the state would go up to Rs 2,000 crore in view of the Rs two- a- kg rice scheme.

Meanwhile, main opposition Telugu Desam Legislature Party Vice-President Kala Venkata Rao told reporters that the subsidised rice scheme was announced only with an eye on the next Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

The populist scheme was first introduced by the N T Rama Rao government and subsequently withdrawn by the Chandrababu Naidu government.

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