Chennai | Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin launched the distribution of Pongal cash gift of Rs 3,000 and a special package to rice category ration cardholders on Thursday, marking the simultaneous distribution of cash and gift hampers through the fair price shops across the state.

The gesture is aimed to enable people celebrate the mid-January harvest festival in a grand manner, he said.

The CM personally handed over Rs 3,000 cash, one kg raw rice, a kilo sugar, a sugarcane, a dhoti and a saree to a few beneficiaries at a fair price (FP) outlet in Alandur here.

The Pongal gift package covers 2.22 crore rice category ration cardholders, besides the families living in the Sri Lankan rehabilitation camps in the state.

The state government had earmarked Rs 6,936 crore exclusively for the cash component. In addition, Rs 248.66 crore has been allotted for procuring and distributing the package items.

The state Food and Civil Supplies department had distributed tokens through the FP shops specifying the time of distribution, which has commenced from today.

State Ministers K R Periyakaruppan, R Sakkarapani, Ma Subramanian, T M Anbarasan, and senior officials participated.

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who launched the distribution in the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni Assembly Constituency, said the entire process of distributing the cash and gift hampers would be completed in four or five days.