Among various benefits being provided by the government to rice cardholders is the additional entitlement of free rice to them this month and next month. There are about 2.1 crore rice-drawing cards and 3 lakh sugar cards, apart from about 50,000 non-commodity cards. The sugar cardholders too, are from the middle class, a large section of whom has otherwise been covered in view of holding rice cards. There is an implication that by opting for sugar, those card holders do not require the government’s support, which is why they have been excluded. In the last couple of years, the government gave opportunities for sugar card holders to convert their cards into rice drawing cards, the officials say.

Source: The Hindu June 07, 2021 09:01 UTC