"Now we are giving subsidy, buying (grains) at higher rate and distributing through a public distribution system through a process of subsidy ... Giving subsidy for fertilizer," AICC General Secretary Oscar Fernandes said here.
In an apparent criticism of Team Anna without taking any names, he sought to question their wisdom to question why the government was "spending money or wasting money" by giving subsidy on fertilizer to the farmers.
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy had said in Dhanbad today that the Centre should scrap MG-NREGA-type welfare schemes and rein in corruption for economic growth.
Fernandes also gave examples how steps in the telecom sector had enabled even a villager procure a mobile handset.
"Anybody can charge the government with any charges. It is for them to prove the charges," he said, in an apparent reference to Team Anna