'Now, no one will go hungry,' Abhishek lauds CM's foresight

Kolkata: Abhishek Banerjee, president, Trinamool Youth Congress lauded the foresight of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in combating COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent decision to provide ration free till June 2021.

He tweeted: "Hon'ble CM's foresight to tackle the pandemic & exemplary governance is worth emulating. I congratulate her & the people of #Bengal for this historic step to make ration free till June 2021. Now, no one will go hungry during these trying times. #DidiAchheChintaNei."

The state government has so far spent more than Rs 1000 crore to combat the pandemic. Seventy hospitals across the state have been converted into COVID-19 hospitals having a total of 10,774 beds, said state Finance minister Amit Mitra a few days ago. After the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 25, Banerjee visited various areas and urged people to wear masks and wash hands with soap or sanitizers frequently. She also visited different markets and urged people over and again to follow the lockdown norms.

The state government has taken a historic decision to provide free ration to nearly four crore people under the Khadya Sathi project.

Currently, the Centre extends support to give free-of-cost ration to 6.01 crore cardholders in Bengal under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), Priority Households (PHH) and State Priority Ration Cards (SPHH) while the state government provided the same to 3.97 crore beneficiaries under Rajya Khadya Suraksha Yojana (RKSY) I and II.