Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru Jun 10: Minister for food and civil supplies U T Khader on Saturday dismissed reports of 'plastic rice and eggs' as baseless rumours and said that no such cases have been reported in the state.
Addressing a press meet here, Khader allayed fears of the public and said, "People need not worry about plastic rice and eggs as there have been no such cases reported in the state. The state government’s Anna Bhagya scheme has been successful, so in order to defame the scheme, some elements are trying to spread false rumours about this plastic rice and eggs. Nevertheless, the health minister has ordered a probe into the matter.
"Rice is distributed through Food Corporation of India under Anna Bhagya scheme and over 2.77 lac metric tons of rice is required every month. In general, 1 egg costs Rs 5 and to make a plastic replica of egg, you need minimum of Rs 100. This is baseless and there is no actual evidence about it," he said.
He also said that the state government has withdrawn the policy regarding age limit and qualification for ration shop licence renewal. "The state government has withdrawn the policy wherein a ration shop owner who crossed 65 years of age could not renew the licence and also needed SSLC as minimum qualification in order to run the ration shop," he said.
"This policy was enforced after biometric card was introduced. It was difficult for owners of ration shops who were less qualified to understand the biometric technology, so they brought the policy where the minimum qualification for the owner was SSLC. There was lot of opposition from the people with regard to this policy, hence the state government on June 9 decided to withdraw the policy," he explained.
On the issue of sea erosion, Khader said, "I visited the spot affected by sea erosion at Ullal. The situation is not so dangerous. Two days back sea swallowed two houses at Kaiko. One family has been shifted to a rented house on a temporary basis. Rescue teams are at work to tackle the situation. We are also trying to provide compensation to those who have lost their houses due to sea erosion."