Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today announced his government’s decision to increase the quota of rice from 10kg to 20kg rice per family at the rate of Rs 6 per kg under the Chief Minister’s Anna Suraksha Yojana that was launched late last year.
The scheme, being funded from the state’s resources, is already benefiting the poor sections not included in the BPL list. The budget for the scheme, which is targeting a population of 20 lakh, is Rs 121.79 crore.
The increase, sources said, would undoubtedly help the ruling Congress, which is striving for a third straight term in Dispur, boost its prospects in these inflationary times.
Dispur is also distributing blankets and yarns to the poor not included in the BPL list.
The chief minister also proposed to set up four Rabindra Bhawans in the state and install statues of Rabindranath Tagore in all the 27 districts of the state at the first meeting of the state-level advisory committee set up for organising functions to celebrate the Nobel Laureate’s 150th birth anniversary.
Though officially the move is being seen as a tribute to the legendary figure, the timing suggested that it was aimed at wooing the sizeable Bengali population before the Assembly polls.
A couple of days ago, Gogoi had publicly tried to woo the Bengali community by invoking Rabindranath Tagore at a rally.
“It is a good and inclusive move and more such initiative is needed to make the linguistic minorities feel at home in the state. It should have been initiated long ago but better late than never,” a participant said.
The proposed bhawans will be set up in Barak Valley, lower Assam, Jorhat and Upper Assam. The last one was proposed by Gogoi today, he said.
Asam Sahitya Sabha president Rong Bong Terang, Amalendu Guha, Benu Mishra and senior journalist Amal Gupta were among those who attended the meeting.