The Tamil Nadu government announced on 22nd that Pongal will be given as a Pongal gift package along with Rs.1000 and rice and sugar.
Many political parties are protesting the absence of sugarcane in the Pongal gift package. In this situation, Radhakrishnan has filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking an order to the Tamil Nadu government to provide sugarcane along with the Pongal gift.
In it he said:
Farmers have planted sugarcane in the hope that the government will purchase sugarcane at a good price for Pongal gift packages. But since sugarcane is not included in the Pongal gift package, sugarcane has to be sold at a low price. Due to this, the families of sugarcane farmers are unable to celebrate Pongal with satisfaction.
Since Pongal festival and sugarcane cannot be separated, I submitted a petition to the Tamil Nadu government on 24th December requesting to provide sugarcane along with the Pongal gift package. It should be ordered to be considered. It says so. The petition is coming up for hearing in the Madras High Court today