Telengana: Don’t recycle PDS rice, minister warns millers

Civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy has warned millers and others involved in the recycling of rice supplied through fair price shops to ration card holders.

After inspecting a ration shop in Huzurnagar to assess the quality of rice on Monday, the minister expressed concern about reports of misuse of ration rice. Presently, 54 lakh ration cardholders in Telangana get 5kg rice from the central government and one kg from the state government, taking the total to 6 kg rice per person in a family whose names are mentioned in the ration card.

“Whether from the central or state government, the cost of rice procurement is Rs 39 per kg for the government. But there are allegations that 70-75% of ration rice is being recycled by millers and other elements,” the minister said. The state government has taken up the issue seriously and anyone found involved in the recycling of rice will face stringent action, he warned. “The previous BRS government has left the civil supplies corporation with a debt of Rs 56,000 crore. When the BRS government had assumed office in 2014, the debt was only Rs 3,300 crore. Presently, the annual interest burden on the corporation, responsible for ration distribution and paddy procurement, exceeds Rs 3,000 crore per annum. Over the past decade, the corporation incurred losses of Rs 11,000 crore due to the gross neglect of the department by the previous government,” the minister alleged.

The minister accused the previous government of entrusting paddy stocks worth Rs 22,000 crore to rice millers without any security or bank guarantee.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.