Puducherry, India

Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on Saturday announced that the distribution of free rice to villagers in the Union Territory, a scheme intended to benefit more than half of its population, will be stopped if villages are not free from open defecation and garbage.

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Bedi said that the villages have to prove they are indeed open defecation free and free of garbage to avail the benefit of free rice from the government. Bedi took to Twitter to announce that the local administration will now have to provide her with a certificate proving that villages are free from open defecation and garbage before the free supply of rice is provided.

“Linked Free Rice distribution to respective constituency MLAs & Commune Commissioners Certifying villages open defecation free and of strewn garbage and plastic. Free Rice reaches out to more than half d population primarily in rural areas. This is the learning of morning round today”, she said on Twitter. 

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The Governor has also reportedly given a four-week ultimatum till May 31. In her letter to the MLAs in the Union Territory, Bedi reportedly said, “Till then the free rice supplies will be kept on hold and in safe storage. It shall be distributed to the beneficiaries on the village being certified clean. The certification shall also be cross-checked to ensure its veracity. All constituencies are given four weeks’ notice to clean up their respective areas to be entitled for the free rice. The notice period ends on May 31st.”

Bedi added saying that the free distribution of rice “shall be conditional to the certification of the village being open defecation free and free of strewn garbage and plastics by submitting a joint certificate given by the MLA and the Commune Commissioner to the Civil Supplies Commissioner.”