'Cleaning hands of rich': Rahul blasts govt for using rice in sanitisers

The decision was taken by a group of experts under the National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC), chaired by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

The government is "cleaning the hands of the rich" and hurting the poor by allowing surplus rice to be used for making sanitisers, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday.

The government on Monday allowed surplus rice, available with the Food Corporation of India (FCI), to be used for ethanol, which will be then in making alcohol-based hand sanitisers and blending in petrol. The government is saddled with huge rice stoc , excluding the 19.23 mt of unmilled paddy lying with millers on behalf of FCI

"After all, when will India's poor wake up? You are dying of hunger and they are