Subsidies should be kept for 'the poorest of the poor': Jay Panda

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Jay Panda on Friday said the time has come in our country to recognise that the subsidies should be kept only for the really deserving citizens, that is, the poorest of the poor.

"I think time has come in our country to recognise that subsidies should be kept only for the really deserving citizens, the poorest of the poor. You can see many changes happening, for example, the government has been encouraging for the last one year for people to voluntarily give up their LPG cooking gas subsidy," he told ANI.

Panda further said that a lot of people have responded from the middle class and those who can afford it have voluntarily given up.

"I think around ten lakh citizens have given this up including many MPs and politicians. In this kind of an atmosphere, I think it is an anomaly to continue to have subsidised food for parliamentarians," he added.

Panda gave up his subsidy after revelations that MPs dine in Parliament at highly subsidised rates.

Panda also took to twitter and said that he had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan giving up the subsidy.

An RTI reply last month revealed that the Parliament canteens serving to the Members of Parliament got a total subsidy of Rs 60.7 crore during the last five years with items like 'puri sabji' being sold at 88% subsidised rates.