Deepavali gift for peasants

Chennai, Oct. 28. For the thousands of peasants hit by the Cauvery crisis and monsoon failure, the Tamil Nadu Government today came up with a Deepavali gift package-10 kg rice, one kg sugar, 250 gm of sweets and Rs. 50 each. In a special package for rice dealers as well, it withdrew the sales tax on rice, levied for the past few months.

The Rs. 21-crore ''gift hamper'' scheme announced by the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, in the Assembly will have just about all ingredients for a festival feast-100 gm ghee, a coconut, plantain, brinjal, dhal, turmeric and mustard, besides rice, sugar, sweets and cash.

About 10 lakh agricultural labourers in Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruchi, Tiruvarur, Cuddalore, Pudukottai and Karur districts would be given the gift, each worth Rs. 210. The Commercial Taxes Minister, S. M. Velusamy, announced the withdrawal of the two per cent tax levied on the rice dealers with a turnover exceeding Rs. 2 crores and the compounding fee on a slab basis fixed for dealers with a turnover less than Rs. 2 crores.