TAP TO UNMUTE File photo of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi | Photo Credit: PTI

Key Highlights Rahul Gandhi slams Central government for allowing use of surplus rice to make hand sanitisers He said while the poor are dying of hunger, the government is busy in making hand sanitisers for rich Rahul Gandhi had earlier urged the Centre to waive GST on all Covid-19-related equipment

New Delhi: Congres leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday lashed out at the Central government for allowing surplus rice to be converted into ethanol in order to manufacture alcohol-based hand sanitisers and also for blending with petrol. He said the poor are dying of hunger while the government is busy cleaning the hands of the rich.

Taking to Twitter, former Congres president asked when will the poor of India wake up? "You are dying of hunger and they are busy cleaning the hands of the rich by making sanitizers from your portion of rice," he tweeted, roughly translated from Hindi.

The Wayanad MP also attached a news report about the government''s decision to allow the use of surplus rice for manufacturing sanitisers in the country.

Gandhi's remark comes a day after the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced that the government has approved the use of surplus rice available with Food Corporation of India (FCI) to make hand sanitisers. The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC).

"A meeting of NBCC was held today under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, wherein it was approved that the surplus rice available with FCI may be converted to ethanol for utilization in making alcohol-based hand-sanitizers and in blending for Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme," the petroleum ministry said in a statement.

'Don't charge GST on Covid-19 equipment'

Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi had asked the Modi government to not charge Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 'small and big' equipment related to coronavirus treatment.



"In this difficult time of Covid-19, we are constantly demanding from the government that all small and big equipment related to the treatment of this epidemic should be made GST-free," he tweeted, roughly translated from Hindi.

"To collect GST on sanitizers, soaps, masks, gloves, etc. from the people suffering from disease and poverty. It is incorrect. We will stand by the #GSTFreeCorona demand, (sic)" he added.

#Covid19 के इस मुश्किल वक्त में हम लगातार सरकार से माँग कर रहे हैं कि इस महामारी के उपचार से जुड़े सभी छोटे-बड़े उपकरण GST मुक्त किए जाएँ।बीमारी और ग़रीबी से जूझती जनता से सैनीटाईज़र, साबुन, मास्क, दस्ताने आदि पर GST वसूलना ग़लत है। #GSTFreeCorona माँग पर हम डटे रहेंगे। pic.twitter.com/iXLkw7lMxM — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 20, 2020

India has reported 1,336 new cases and 47 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total count to 18,601 and the death toll rose to 590. The country has 14,759 active cases and 3,252 people have cured and discharged or migrated.

