New Delhi: Welcoming the Centre’s decision to provide a discount of Rs 15 per kilogram on pulses over the wholesale market price to states, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the move was for the welfare of the poor and it would ensure that poor children would have a nutritious diet.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had, on Thursday, decided to sell nearly 3.5 million tonnes of pulses to states at Rs 15 per kilogram, a lower price than the wholesale rate for distribution under the public distribution system and other welfare schemes. The decision cost the exchequer Rs 5,237 crore.

The saffron party said the decision would directly benefit the poor and would strengthen the public distribution system in states.

“It will help in a major way in providing nutritious food to the poor, especially among children,” said BJP’s national media in-charge Anil Baluni.

The BJP leader said the Cabinet’s decision to revise and continue post-matric scholarships for students belonging to Other Backward Classes would be a big boost to the students belonging to the section.