TN includes sugarcane in Pongal gift packs

Chennai, Dec 28 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday decided to include sugar cane in Pongal gift packets following demand from opposition parties, farmers' organizations, and general public.Pongal is celebrated in Tamil Nadu in the second week of January.Chief Minister M.K. Stalin presided over a meeting to decide on the Pongal gift scheme in which ministers S. Duraimurugan, K.R. Periyakaruppan, and R. Sakkarpani participated.So far, the gift packs included Rs 1,000, and one kg each of raw rice and sugar.Stalin will inaugurate the Pongal scheme on January 9 and tokens will be distributed to ration card holders from January 3 to January 8.Political parties including the AIADMK, and the PMK had earlier come out against the government for not including sugar cane in the Pongal gift scheme.
--IANS aal/vd

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