The promise of free ration to the country's 80 crore citizens has become one of the most important focus points of the INDIA bloc, in the midst of a hot campaign and a very intense rivalry with the BJP to seek new voters.
During a joint press briefing with Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge declared that the INDIA bloc would furnish 10 kg of free ration to individuals, in contrast to the NDA's offering of 5 kg.
Kharge derided the Modi government's claims regarding feeding the impoverished, asserting, "You provide 5 kg of ration to the poor, we will ensure 10 kg of free ration."
Citing examples from Karnataka and Telangana, he said that Congress-led governments had already announced and implemented such measures in those states.
He further accused the Modi government of wrongly claiming credit for the free ration scheme, as it was actually instituted through the Food Security Act by the Congress-led UPA government.
Interestingly, while the Congress manifesto for the 2024 elections did not mention free ration initially, it is now brought into the discussion after the end of the fourth phase of elections.
The main focus of the Congress electoral manifesto was to empower women with yearly assistance of Rs 1 lakh and to give apprenticeships to unemployed youth, allowing them to get assistance of up to Rs 1 lakh.
Significantly, Kharge's commitment comes on the heels of Home Minister Amit Shah's claim that the BJP had secured 270 seats already, with the next three phases expected to bolster its tally.
The distribution of free ration, initially initiated during the Covid pandemic to support the impoverished and vulnerable, has persisted since then. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also assured ahead of the polls that this scheme would continue for five more years, in his third consecutive term.
Estimates indicate that this scheme costs annually around Rs 2 lakh crore on average. Making this scheme if implemented by a prospective Congress government, would cost double the amount, at an estimated annual expenditure of Rs 4 lakh crore.
Experts had already questioned the various promises of giving aid to women and the unemployed, as proposed in Congress's Nyay Patra. Adding free ration to it would further put a burden on the taxpayers.
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