HYDERABAD: Telangana (region) general manager, Food Corporation of India (FCI) Ashwani Kumar Gupta on Monday said the Central government had extended the distribution of 5 kg free rice as part of the Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) programme. The scheme was launched in view of the Covid-19 induced lockdown for the State Public Distribution System (PDS) cardholders, on the lines of benefits provided to National Food Security Act (NFSA) cardholders.
Gupta said the Government of India would supply rice to the State government at a subsidised price of Rs 22 per kg for the benefit of State PDS cardholders. Addressing a press conference, Gupta said the initiative would benefit around 87.81 lakh PDS cardholders. He said the Central government had allotted 44,298 metric tonnes of rice per month, which would be continued till March 22. The Centre initially started it for a period of three months, but further extended it for 11 months. He said so far, the Centre had sanctioned 14.37 lakh metric tonnes of food grains to Telangana, in four phases.
“This is the first such humanitarian act taken up in a single State. The State can utilise Rs 5,355 crore, which will be borne by the Central government,” Ashwani Kumar added. The Union government’s PMGKAY scheme is set to benefit 1.92 crore beneficiaries covered under the NFSA scheme, he added. In addition to 1.08 lakh metric tonnes of rice distributed per month under the regular NFSA scheme, the Centre has allotted an additional 95,810 metric tonnes of rice per month, the FCI general manager said.
PDS CARDHOLDERS TO GET RICE AT `22 PER KG
FCI general manager Ashwani Kumar Gupta said the Government of India would supply rice to the State government at a subsidised price of `22 per kg for the benefit of State PDS cardholders. He added that the Central government had allotted 44,298 metric tonnes of rice per month, which would be continued till March 22