Gehlot decides to give wheat to all needy, even it meant buying the grain on market price

The Rajasthan government has decided to purchase wheat at market price and distribute it only among all the poor and needy under the National Food Security Act scheme.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that his government has repeatedly requested the Central government to release more wheat so that wheat could be distributed to all beneficiaries.

The state government has decided to purchase wheat on market price and distribute it among those who are deprived of wheat under the National Food Security Act.

The centre is allotting the wheat on the basis of 2011census but the population has increased and more wheat is needed, he told reporters in a video conference on Wednesday.

The chief minister has requested the prime minister to allot additional 30,000 MT wheat per month to the state so that the requirement could be fulfilled.

There are 4.46 crore families covered under the NFSA in the state as per the census of 2011 which, according to a press release, should be 5.04 crore now as per the current population.

The chief minister also rejected allegations that the government was soft in Ramganj and cases were rising in Muslim dominated area, saying some people were spreading rumours and people should not pay heed.

The sole aim of the government is to save lives. We made Bhilwara model which is named as 'ruthless containment'. The government is ruthlessly acting (to contain the spread). So, can the government afford to appease a community on the ground of religion by giving them relaxation? he asked.

There are people who are saying that the government has given relaxation to Muslims and they are spreading corona. There cannot be anything more rubbish than this. The police have directions to give similar treatment to all those, irrespective of the religion, who violate curfew norms and break rules, he said.

Our aim is to save lives and to restore the normalcy like Wuhan of China, where there was a lockdown for more than two-and-a- half month and normalcy has returned there now, he said