Plea to CEO for ensuring free rice to mosques

TNML founding president VMS Mustafa along with party cadre met Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sathyabrata Sahoo at his office in the Secretariat and submitted a petition. Following the submission, Mustafa while addressing reporters, said, “The Ramzan fasts commence on May 5 and every year the state government will give free rice to all the mosques for preparing rice porridge. However, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in place and there is possibility that officials might site MCC and may stop supply of free rice to mosques.”

He also said that Ramzan is the time that mosques will supply free food to poor people to make sure that no one goes hungry after the fasts. The scheme of providing free rice to mosques was commenced by the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2001 and since then it is continuing. But, however there is a fear among Muslims that rice supply might be discontinued as elections are under way and so we have demanded the CEO to make sure that Muslims are not affected during Ramzan, said Mustafa.