BPL families to get extra 20kg rice

Bihar government has decided to host a month-long ‘Century rice festival’ from August 15 during which 20 kg rice would be made available to every BPL family at subsidised rate in additional to the foodgrains they draw, state Food Minister Shyam Rajak said today. “We will hold a month-long century rice festival in Bihar from August 15… we will make available 20 kg rice to every BPL family at subsidised rate in addition to the foodgrains they draw”, Rajak told reporters. Stating that the number of BPL households in Bihar was around 28 lakh at present, he said the state government had already earmarked 2 lakh metric tonne rice for the century rice festival. He said around five lakh metric tonne wheat had already been lifted in Bihar till now. “We have decided to construct 483 new godwons in Bihar with the FCI godowns running short of storage facilities”, Rajak said. The state government had already released Rs 100 crore for construction of the new godowns, he said.