HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday suggested that the Centre introduce Telangana’s flagship scheme that distributes superfine rice through public distribution system (PDS) across the country.
The chief minister made this suggestion when he met Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi along with Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao, Principal Secretary to Civil Supplies Stephen Ravindra and other officials.
The chief minister briefed the Union minister about the successful implementation of the superfine rice distribution scheme and its positive impact on the lives of poor people in Telangana.
Explaining the official mechanism developed for the distribution of fine rice through the ration shops, he said that fine rice supply reduced recycling of PDS rice and also stabilised the prices in the open market. The scheme also achieved desired goals, especially distribution of nutritious and quality rice to the poor, he added.
In response, the Union minister said that a decision will be taken on this issue after a thorough study. During the meeting, Revanth also requested Joshi to clear pending dues, increase paddy procurement targets for Telangana.
He also requested the Union minister to increase the boiled rice quota by an additional 10 lakh metric tonnes for the 2024-25 Rabi season. The chief minister brought to the attention of Joshi that subsidy dues of Rs 1,468 crore for rice supplied under PDS and Rs 343.27 crore under the fifth phase of PMGKY were pending and urged him to clear the dues immediately.
In view of the bumper paddy yield of 148 lakh metric tonnes in the 2025–26 Kharif season, the chief minister appealed to the Union minister to increase the paddy procurement target to 80 lakh metric tonnes.
The Union minister assured the CM that the Centre will consider all the requests. He also suggested that since the demand for boiled rice dropped considerably across the country, cultivation of raw rice varieties suitable for milling should be encouraged.
He also suggested that Telangana explore export opportunities to effectively manage the surplus paddy stocks in the state.
Centre to release Rs 343 cr PDS subsidy arrears
Nalgonda: Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi on Thursday announced immediate release of Rs 343 crore PDS subsidy arrears due to Telangana from the Covid period.
The Union minister was addressing the gathering after inaugurating a divisional office of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in Nalgonda. Joshi also agreed to consider sanctioning payment of Rs 1,400 crore in custom milled rice (CMR) dues, which are pending over the last 10 years, once the state government submits the “correct” records.
Lauding the Nalgonda district’s role in paddy production and procurement within Telangana, he pointed out that paddy procurement in Telangana has increased by 600% since 2014-15. Stating that the newly inaugurated FCI office godown has a storage capacity of 62,000 metric tonnes, he offered to establish another godown in the district if the administration provides the land.
The Union minister also said that 1.11 lakh metric tonnes of food grains are being allocated to Telangana every month, including one lakh metric tonnes of rice and 3,370 metric tonnes of wheat.” To strengthen food security, all ration cards have been digitised,” he said.
“The Centre has been providing 5 kg free rice every month to 80 crore poor people under the food security initiative, a measure intended to prevent hunger during the Covid pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to continue this programme until 2030,” he added.