Nirmala Sitharaman pulls up Collector in Telangana for not replying on Centre, state share in PDS rice

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday pulled up Collector of Kamareddy district Jitesh Patil when he could not provide her an answer to what was the Centre and the States share of the rice supplied through fair price shopsSitharaman who was attending various programmes in Zaheerabad Parliamentary Constituency as part of BJPs Lok Sabha PravasYojana asked Jitesh Patil as to why the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was missing at the shop in Birkur She said the Centre bears a lions share in the subsidised rice which is being sold to beneficiaries in the State at the rate of Re 1 kgThe rice which is sold at Rs 35 in the open market was being distributed to people at Re 1 here How much is the State government bearing she asked the CollectorShe said the Centre has been supplying the rice in shops by bearing all the costs including logistics and storage and was trying to get an answer whether free rice was reaching the people or notAlso Read Sitharaman rubbishes allegations of Centre favouring Ambani AdaniCondemning her remark Telangana Health Minister T Harish Rao said it was unbecoming of a Union Minister asking to keep the Prime Ministers picture in a ration shopAccording to him the Centre supplies 10 kg of rice per month at Rs 3 per kg to only 50 to 55 per cent of the cardholders under NFSA National Food Security Act and for the rest 4550 per cent Telangana government supplies at its own costThis is ridiculous She is talking in such a way that it degrades the stature of the Prime Minister She was talking as if all the rice which is given free of cost was being supplied by them Centre Rao slammedThe State government spends Rs 3610 crore every year on free rice schemeSitharaman said the Centre bears nearly Rs 30 the State gives Rs 4 while Re 1 is collected from the beneficiariesShe said since MarchApril 2020 the Centre has been providing rice priced at Rs 30Rs 35 free of cost without the State government and the beneficiaries having to contribute anythingWhen the official could not answer the question the Union Minister asked him to come up with an answer in the next 30 minutesYou think about it and within halfanhour again before my address to the media come up with an answer So that I can tell them that even if the Collector could not answer my question immediately he struggled and got the information she rebukedShe alleged that when a request was earlier made to put up Modis pictures also at the fair price shops in Telangana it was not allowedThe BJP workers who came forward to put up the pictures were also not allowedI am telling you today Our people will come and put up the PMs banner here You will as the district administrator ensure that it shall not be removed That it shall not be torn she told the CollectorIf a banner is not there I will come to this place again she saidUnder the Centres Garib Kalyan Yojana the entire cost of 5 kg of foodgrains given free is being borne by the central government the Union Minister saidUnder NFSA more than 8037 of cost of foodgrains is borne by the Centre Is there any objection to posterbanner of PM Modi being displayed at ration shops Smt nsitharaman her office tweetedEarlier some Congress workers tried to protest when the Finance Minister was on her way to Banswada Police intervened and dispersed the groupThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever