"Sanitisers For Rich From Poor's Rice Share": Rahul Gandhi Slams Centre

Rahul Gandhi has hit out at the government, saying the rice that should belong to the poor is being used for "cleaning the hands of the rich", a day after the government said excess rice in central godowns will be converted into ethanol to make hand sanitisers and will also be added to petrol to reduce emissions. The move is seen as controversial with millions on the brink of starvation since the country went into lockdown last month to fight the rapid spread of coronavirus.

"After all, when will India's poor wake up? You are dying of hunger and they are busy cleaning the hands of the rich by making sanitisers from your portion of rice," the top Congress leader tweeted in Hindi.

Quoting the National Policy on Biofuels, which allows the conversion of surplus foodgrain into ethanol, the government on Monday said the decision was taken at a meeting of NBCC (National Biofuel Coordination Committee) chaired by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Mr Pradhan said the committee has allowed conversion of a "small fraction" of excess foodgrains stock into ethanol. An official of the petroleum ministry said the Food Corporation of India has around three times more stock than the existing buffer norms.

Since the coronavirus lockdown was announced last month, there has been huge controversy over reports that many of India's poorest were going hungry because of the lockdown, even though the godowns of the Food Corporation of India have been full.

A number of migrants workers who were stranded in cities because of the lockdown, homeless and jobless, have said they fear dying not of coronavirus but of hunger.