Free rice is election broth, says Vijayakant

15 Sep 2008
CHENNAI: Flaying the state government for its cheap rice scheme, actor and DMDK leader, Vijayakant on Sunday described it as an 'election gimmick'
only meant to help the ruling DMK to garner votes in the Lok Sabha election.

The quality of the rice, now sold at Re 1 per kilo in ration shops, was "very bad" and the new scheme helped the government to use up its PDS stocks, Vijayakant said. The DMDK, launched in September 2005, observed the party's third anniversary at a function in the city.

It was not sops that people wanted, but jobs as the rising inflation and consequent price rise were a severe burden on them, he said, claiming they were fed up with the freebies offered by the government. A few days after it announced the cheap rice scheme, the DMK government on Sunday came up with yet another sop, that of providing 10 cooking ingredients at a subsidised rate.

The government should focus more on creating job opportunities instead, said Vijayakant, promising one lakh jobs for youth across the state. Applications would be collected from young people across Tamil Nadu and based on an assessment, the party would help one lakh youth to get jobs, he said. On October 18, the party's youth wing will hold a rally and public meeting in Chennai. Non committal on the alliance issue, the actor said while regional parties (like the DMK and AIADMK) opposed the DMDK, national parties encouraged it.

Souce: timesofindia.indiatimes.com