Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy along with his Cabinet colleagues Vivek Venkataswamy, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Damodar Raja Narasimha, and TPCC chief Mahesh Kumar Goud giving away a smart ration card to a beneficiary in Sangareddy on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: MOHD ARIF
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday said the government would continue issuing ration cards to all eligible beneficiaries even as he criticised the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government for not issuing new ration cards and for failing to provide sanna biyyam (fine rice) to beneficiaries.Addressing a public meeting before launching the distribution of smart ration cards in Sangareddy, Mr. Reddy described the ration card as a document that ensured self-respect for poor families.Slamming the Opposition BRS and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their criticism, he said they were “two faces of the same coin”. “I am questioning the BRS and BJP leaders, have you ever thought of giving sanna biyyam to the poor? Have the poor ever cooked and eaten the rice you gave them?” he asked. The Chief Minister also claimed that rice prices in the open market had declined following the supply of fine rice through the public distribution system.Reiterating that his government had filled more than 70,000 government posts in the 32 months since it assumed office, he urged job aspirants not to fall prey to what he termed a “false campaign” by the Opposition. He assured them that job notifications would be issued every six months.He said the government was trying to take Telangana from “destruction to development” while continuing welfare programmes despite financial constraints and rejected criticism that the Congress government would disrupt power supply.Civil Supplies and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said ration cards would be issued to all eligible beneficiaries and that the process would continue as an ongoing exercise. He said ration cards covering about 1.06 crore families were being distributed to benefit 3.42 crore people. The government had procured 150 lakh metric tonnes of paddy this year, he said.
