Days after the members of the ruling ADMK party in the districts of Salem and Coimbatore said that they would take care of the cost of providing free food in Amma Canteens in their localities for the affected people, DMK Chief and Opposition leader of the state assembly MK Stalin has slammed the ruling party over playing politics through the canteens.

In a statement, Stalin demanded the government to provide free food in the hotels to ease the burden endured by the people in the wake of the complete lockdown. He condemned the government for letting the ruling party members do politics over Amma Canteens, which has been established by the state government with the view of serving low-cost food to the daily wage workers and middle-class families.

அம்மா உணவகங்களில் இலவச உணவு; தூய்மைப் பணியாளர்களுக்கு உடனடியாக சம்பளம்; பத்திரிகையாளர் சந்திப்பை தவிர்த்து செய்திகளை மின்னஞ்சலில் அனுப்புதல்;மின் கட்டண ரத்து& சுங்கச் சாவடி வசூல் நிறுத்தம் ஆகியவற்றை மத்திய-மாநில அரசுகள் செயல்படுத்த வேண்டும்.

மக்களின் துயர் துடைப்பதே தலையாய கடமை! pic.twitter.com/0LJ9qGKUiF

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) April 21, 2020

He further stated that the government must refrain from conducting the daily briefing, instead, it should concentrate on sharing the developments online and it should waive off the electricity bill. He urged the government not to collect the electricity bill from the people who are rice ration cardholders and such a move would be of lending a hand of friendship from the government. 

People who possess the rice ration cards would be provided with rice at a free of cost through Public Distribution System (PDS) and they can also avail the essential commodities at a subsidized rate. Along with placing demands on the state government, Stalin has also asked the Central government to refrain from collecting the fares at toll plazas as he claimed that the collection of toll fares would let the prices of essential commodities increase.

His demand has come after the toll plazas had started collecting the fares from the vehicles since April 20 nearly three weeks after staying under the complete lockdown. The nationwide lockdown has been the unprecedented experiment rolled out by the Central government to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).