ALAPPUZHA: The union government has been allotting a large quantity of rice to poor people in the country to eradicate poverty after the spread of Covid in 2020 under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). The major quantity of rice is given to people below the poverty line, mainly the ration card-holders under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY-yellow colour) and Priority Household (PHH-orange).
Many families receive above 50kg of rice every month free of cost. However, many of them sell the excess rice to mill owners and poultry farmers. They do not get money but get eggs imported from other states for the rice thus given just like the barter system that prevailed in the country before Independence.
Alappuzha district supply officer T Ganadevi said, “We have carried out raids in many panchayats and confiscated around 47,700kg of rice from godowns owned by middlemen. The action was initiated after the department received complaints that many people illegally keep priority ration cards and misuse them. They also sell rice to middlemen..”
The middlemen give one egg per kilogram of rice, instead of money, said Karthikappally taluk supply officer N Sreekumar. “A majority of people in the area live in a poor condition. The Central government allots 35kg of rice to a ration card under AAY and PHH categories. In addition, 5kg each is also allotted to each person whose name figures in the card. If a four-member family has a card, they get 55kg of rice every month. That family needs around 20kg to 25kg of rice every month and the remaining rice is sold to middlemen, who give one egg for 1kg saying that the price of the egg is Rs 10 because the eggs are of local variety ducks. However, the egg originally arriving from hatcheries in other states only costs Rs 2.5 or Rs 3 in the wholesale market,” Sreekumar said.
The PMGKY project introduced in March 2020 has been extended till December 2022.
Kerala has 5,90,328 AAY and 35,10,751 PHH card-holders -- 2,39,777 AAY beneficiaries and 1,32,53,874 PHH beneficiaries. In Alappuzha, 39,311 AAY cards and 2,72,262 PHH cards have been issued.
The State Civil Supplies Corporation has started steps to stop the misuse of ration materials and special teams have been set up to examine it, officials said.
Deception in the name of barter system
Excess rice is sold to middlemen, who give one egg for 1kg saying that the price of the egg is Rs 10 because the eggs are of local variety ducks. However, the egg originally arriving from hatcheries in other states only costs Rs 2.5 or Rs 3 in the wholesale market