Bengal to give free foodgrains to the poor till June 2021

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Tuesday that the state government would distribute free foodgrains to the underprivileged till June 2021.

“For the first three months of the lockdown, we gave each family five kilos of rice. Over the next three months, till September, we would provide five kilos of rice, along with an equal amount of flour, to each family. We will provide free ration till June 2021,” said Banerjee, addressing media persons at the state secretariat.

The CM’s announcement came just minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Union government would distribute free food grains to 80 crore of the country’s poorest till November-end.

“We give better quality rice than the Centre. Only 6.01 crore people or around 60% of the people in Bengal have benefited from the Centre’s free ration scheme. We are providing to 10 crore people,” she said.