AP to revive Rs 2/kg rice scheme to woo voters

In a bid to woo voters for a prospective mid-term poll, the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh has decided to revive the Rs two per kg rice scheme which had propelled the late N T Rama Rao to power 24 years ago.

The state cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on Monday evening, gave its nod for the implementation of the scheme. The scheme will benefit approximately 1.82 crore economically backward families in the state. However, the government did not finalise the date for the implementation of the scheme.

State Minister for Information and Public Relations Anam Ramnarayan Reddy said that the chief minister has directed senior officials of Finance and Civil supplies Departments to finalise the guidelines for the scheme's implementation. The scheme will benefit all families living below the poverty line. The state government will examine the guidelines framed by the departments concerned before implementing the scheme, he added.

Andhra Pradesh politics has been intricately linked with the fluctuating price of rice since 1983, when matinee idol-turned-Telugu Desam Party founder N T Rama Rao had promised subsidised rice at Rs two per kg for poor families. His government had implemented the cheap rice scheme from the Ugadi (Telugu New Year Day) in 1983.

In 1992, the Congress government had raised the price of subsidised rice to Rs 3.50 a kg to reduce the subsidy burden on the government.

NTR came back to power in 1994 and once again implemented the scheme. However, his son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu, who dethroned him in September 1995, raised the price of subsidised rice to Rs 3.50. By the time Chandrababu Naidu was voted out of power in 2004, the price of rice had touched Rs 5.25 per kg.

The Congress, which regained power in May 2004, has maintained the price of subsidised rice at Rs 5.25 per kg since then.

With the prospect of snap polls looming large, the Congress government has decided to revive the Rs two-a-kg rice scheme to woo the voters. Incidentally, TDP president Chandrababu Naidu has alleged that the Congress somehow managed to get an inkling of their party's decision to revive the scheme and 'hijacked' it before the TDP politburo could make the announcement.