Red rice shortage due to free distribution of rice by previous government: Minister

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera

Colombo, January 08 (Daily Mirror)- The free distribution of 20 kilos of rice per person by the previous government before the Presidential election has resulted in the shortage of red rice in the market, Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe said today.

The Minister told Parliament that the previous government had distributed red rice even to the people who never eat red rice. 

"There is a shortage of red rice in the market. The reason for the shortage is that the previous government distributed 20 kilos of rice to the people before the Presidential election.The red rice was distributed among the people who do not eat red rice as well," he said responding to a question raised by MP Namal Rajapaksa.