About 95 per cent of Pongal gifts have been distributed in Coimbatore, said district supply officials. The Tamil Nadu government has announced a Pongal gift package of Rs 2,500 plus a package that includes cashews, raisins, cardamom, sugarcane, 1 kg sugar and 1 kg rice for rice ration card holders. Pongal gifts have been distributed to ration card holders across the state since January 4.

So far, 9,69,715 Pongal gifts have been distributed in Coimbatore. There are a total of 1,040,60 ration card holders in Coimbatore. Of these, 10,17,460 ration card holders are eligible for Pongal bonanza. Apart from these, 17,000 people had applied for ration cards last year. Many of them are in the process of printing and distributing smart cards. Those who do not have a ration card are given Pongal gift using Aadhaar card.

Accordingly, 9,69,715 people have been given Pongal gifts in Coimbatore till yesterday, which accounts for 95 percent. The rest will be given before Pongal. If anyone does not have a Pongal gift package, they can lodge a complaint about it and the same would be looked into and rectified, said district supply department officials.