To woo the voters ahead of the assembly polls, the Left Front government in Tripura will provide rice under the public distribution system (PDS) to the poor at Rs.2 a kg and increase its quota for others, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar announced here Thursday.

Assembly elections in the country's lone left ruled state are scheduled for next February.

"To give relief to the poor people from the the sufferings of the rising prices of the essentials, the state government has decided to provide rice to the poor under the PDS at Rs.2 per kg from next month," Sarkar told reporters immediately after a cabinet meeting.

Sarkar said: "The state government has also decided to provide rice under the PDS to the families living above poverty line (APL) at 20 kg a month instead of 18 kg from August."

With this decision, 9.58 lakh households, including 2.95 lakh families living below the poverty line (BPL) in Tripura would be benefited.

The chief minister said providing the rice at Rs.2 a kg to 2.95 lakh BPL families would cost the state government Rs.36.45 crore annually.

The chief minister has demanded to bring all people irrespective of BPL and APL families under the food security bill that the central government is discussing with the states and the concerned stake holders.

"The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government had failed to bring the Food Security Bill though the Left parties were demanding it for the past many years," Sarkar added.