Continuing his spree of sops for the poorer sections, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Monday launched the scheme of supplying tur dal or red gram through the ration shops at Rs 30 per kg against the market price of Rs 49 per kg.

Inaugurating the scheme at Kalwakurthy in Mehbubnagar district on Monday evening, the chief minister said the move was aimed at ensuring the availability of nutritious food to the poor at an affordable price when the price of commodities was shooting up in the open market.

The sale of tur dal at a much cheaper rate has come on the heels of the scheme of Rs 2 per kg for the 1.87 crore families holding the white ration cards. These families will also get the Palmolein oil at a cheaper rate through the ration shops. Under the scheme to be launched soon by the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar [Images], the edible oil will be supplied to cardholders at Rs 45 per litre against the market price of Rs 60.

The supply of red gram and oil will put an additional burden of Rs 330 crore on the state exchequer. The government is already spending an amount of Rs 200 crore on the rice subsidy.

The government is also planning many other moves to extend the supply of subsidised rice, dal and oil to the middle class families. For this purpose the government has already increased the income ceiling for the eligibility to benefit from this scheme from Rs 25,000 to Rs 75,000 per annum in urban areas and from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000 in rural areas.

This will make another 25 lakh families eligible for the white ration cards and will jack up the total subsidy burden on the government. The government is also spending Rs 550 crore on absorbing the Rs 50 per LPG cylinder recently increased by the Central government.

"All these measures are aimed at alleviating the impact of the inflation on the common people," he said. In an obvious hint that politics was not far from his mind while taking these measures, YSR said, "As the elections are coming nearer, new parties are coming up to seek your votes. Be alert against them."

"We have not only fulfilled all our election promises but have gone beyond them and introduced many schemes which we had not promised," he said.

Not to be left behind in the race of populism, the Telugu Desam Party has promised free rice to the people, if it comes to the power in the next elections.