The Union ministry of food, consumer affairs and public distribution is planning to give subsidised grain to the temples that offer free food to devotees on a daily basis. A senior official in the ministry told this newspaper that the food minister K.V. Thomas has recently directed his department to conduct a feasibility study on this.
“The ministry has received requests from several temples in the country to give them a special quota of grain. The minister has directed the department to look into the feasibility of this and submit a report,” said a ministry official.
Currently, there are special quotas of grain given for the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the Kumbh Mela.
Mr Thomas had received a special request from the Golden Temple for a special subsidy package for anna dana when he visited the temple eight months ago.
His recent direction in this regard came prior to his visit to a temple in his home state Kerala. He was invited to inaugurate a function at Malliyoor temple in Kerala, which is one of the rare temples in the state that still holds anna dana to its devotees. Mr Thomas, at this function, had publicly promised that the Centre would take a favourable decision in this regard.