Jaya says no conditions on free rice

CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday clarified that the government had not put forth any condition stating people needed to take 5kg of raw rice in order to get 20kg free rice from ration shops. “If anyone compels family card-holders to take raw rice, action will be taken against them,” she announced at State Assembly. Responding to CPI member S Gunasekaran’s remark that Rs 50 crore corpus for Price Stabilisation Fund was not sufficient, she said, “This amount has been allocated for emergency purposes. The government will earmark more funds if necessary.”Smart cards would be issued to old-age pensioners, she added. Bank accounts would be opened in the names of the beneficiaries and the amount would be deposited with nationalised public sector banks.