A full sugarcane will be included in the Pongal gift hamper, already announced to be distributed to the family ration cardholders for the ensuing mid-January harvest festival, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Wednesday.
Accepting the demand of farmers, the Chief Minister who chaired a meeting with senior officials, directed the authorities to include one full sugarcane in the Pongal gift package. And the tokens for providing the gift hampers will be distributed from January 3 to 8.
The four-day harvest festival is celebrated from January 14 commencing with Bhogi. The next three days are observed as Pongal, Mattu Pongal, and Kaanum Pongal.
The state government had on December 22 announced the Pongal gift bag containing 1 kg raw rice and 1 kg sugar along with Rs 1,000 cash to 2.19 crore family cardholders and families living in Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps ahead of the Pongal festival 2023. The move would cost the government about Rs 2,356.67 crore.
"Accepting the request of the farmers, the Chief Minister has issued orders to include one full sugarcane in the Pongal gift package for all the rice cardholders," an official release here said. He would launch the distribution of the gift hampers on January 9.
The DMK government's announcement without including the sugarcane evoked a strong protest from the opposition parties such as the AIADMK and BJP. The farmers claimed that they would incur a huge loss if the government did not procure sugarcane and distribute it to the ration cardholders.