Telangana: PDS rice recycling continues unabated despite fine rice distribution

By T.Karnakar Reddy

The distribution of fine rice through the public distribution system (PDS) has apparently not changed the trend of diversion or recycling of PDS rice.

Ration card holders, who do not use the rice for their personal purposes, were allegedly selling it for Rs 20 to Rs 25 per kg. Traders from across erstwhile Medak district are roaming in trolley autos to purchase the PDS rice. While the government was giving 6 kg rice at Rs 1 per kg to each beneficiary, a good number of them were selling the rice in exchange for money or jowar at some places. The same beneficiaries were purchasing the fine rice at Rs 60 to Rs 70 per kg in the open market for their consumption while the traders were taking the fine rice and selling it after packing in different bags.

The traders were also exporting the rice to Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and other States. There was a serious need to check the sales of PDS rice illegal business and smuggling to other States by deploying the special forces.

In some places, ration dealers themselves were engaging in pacts with traders and purchasing them from their customers which the traders would then procure from them. These traders, who were mostly rice mill owners, will have an agent in every village and area in urban places to purchase and transport the PDS rice to their godowns which they would eventually export after processing them.

This article has been republished from The Telangana Today.