145;Freebies very much possible146;

DMK president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday asserted that his offer of PDS rice at Rs 2 per kg, colour television sets for the poor and two acres land for the landless farmers were very much 8216;8216;in the realm of possibility.8217;8217;

Kicking off the DMK campaign in Purasawalkam in north Chennai, Karunanidhi explained the modalities: If the DMK came to power, it will redistribute 55 lakh acre of waste land among landless farmers. As for cheap rice, Karunanidhi said the Jayalalithaa government was now offering rice at Rs 3.50 kg per. With his offer, the extra burden on the exchequer would be Rs. 1.50 per kilo. So while the 1.5 crore ration card holders got 30 kg every month, the subsidy component worked out to Rs 45 crore a month and Rs 540 crore every year.

However, the DMK trimmed its offer of colour TVs to only those families below the poverty line. He said 53 lakh families would receive the colour sets in the first phase. With each set costing Rs 2,000 the government would have to spent Rs 540 crore each year, he added.