Modi Vows to Extend Free Food Program for 5 Years as Polls Loom

India’s free food program gave away 5 kilograms of wheat or rice every month to 800 million Indians.

Photographer: T. Narayan/Bloomberg
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India’s government will extend a free food program for the nation’s 800 million people by another five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Modi made the announcement during a public rally in the poll-bound state of Chhattisgarh on Saturday. It comes just days before India holds elections in five states and months before nationwide polls.