Centre subsidies for corporates, not for poor: Brinda

CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat today alleged that the Centre was extending subsidy to the corporate sector, but denying it to the common man for proper food security. Comrade Brinda Karat was attending a massive dharna in Agartala organised by Left front to protest against price rise and to oppose the proposed food security bill.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh always says that subsidy should be reduced. His government cannot give subsidy for food security of people but can provide different kinds of subsidy to the corporate houses. All these are the results of new liberal economic policy," Karat told.  She said that the proposed Food Security Bill is inadequate for people, and that her party demanded division of BPL and APL category in the proposed Bill be abolishedbecause poor people in the country were not given BPL cards.

"65 per cent Dalits and 55 per cent tribals in the country are still deprived of BPL cards, so we demand abolition of the division of BPL and APL in Public Distribution System (PDS)," she said. Karat said the central government had stocked eight crore tonnes of food granules as buffer stock, but according to rules only three crore tonnes were enough. "We have demanded that the rest five crore tonne granules be distributed to people at subsidised rate."\

Alleging that India was exporting food granules to foreign countries for feeding animals, she demanded to stop export of food and distribute them to the poor through PDS. The central government should follow Tripura which made an example in the country by giving rice to poor people at Rs two per kg, she said.