Re. 1 Per Kg Rice Scheme Launched

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday claimed that no poor person in the state would sleep without food from today onwards.

Speaking after launching the Re-1-a-kilo-rice scheme at Khairatabad, the Chief Minister said that the scheme was launched to ensure that basic food becomes affordable for everyone in the state.

He said that the scheme would benefit about 2.26 crore people in AP.

Kiran Kumar Reddy said that the government has taken sufficient measures to ensure that the rice scheme continues in the future. He said that all 44,000 dealers of rice in the state have been asked to ensure that they adhere to he scheme.

He said that soon the government would launch a toll-free number to receive complaints, if any, about the improper implementation of the scheme. He directed the Civil Supplies Commissioner to take measures in this regard.

Further, the Chief Minister said that the government would fulfil its commitment of providing jobs to 15 lakh youth in the state in the next 3 years. He said that 1.16 lakh youth would be recruited, and that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh himself would disburse the appointment letters in December.

He said that the Rajiv Yuvakiranulu scheme would be as successful and beneficial as Rajiv Arogyasri.

The Chief Minister also spoke about the second phase of Rachabanda, which will be launched from Wednesday. He said that as many as 24 lakh cards would be distributed during the program. These applications were received during the first phase of Rachabanda and they include about 1.68 lakh applications from Hyderabad district, he said.

Kiran Kumar Reddy also tried to impress the local audience by speaking a few sentences in Urdu. However, he confined the subject to the rice scheme, and said that the scheme would also benefit thousands of poor Muslims.

When the audience, including the ministers present, burst into laughter on hearing his broken Urdu, he apologised with "Maaf karna... main abhi abhi seek raha hoon (Please apologise... I'm still learning (Urdu)"). He used the phrase "Insha Allah" twice, and concluded his speech with "Khuda Hafiz".

PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana, ministers including Sreedhar Babu, J Geetha Reddy, N Raghuvvera Reddy, P Satyanarayana, M Mukesh Goud and Danam Nagender, Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav and GHMC Mayor Banda Karthi Chandra Reddy were present on the occasion. (INN)