Telangana: Fine rice distribution under PDS likely to face delays
By D Chandrabhaskara Rao
The State government has announced plans to start supplying fine rice to white cardholders under the Public Distribution System (PDS) from January 2025.
However, this plan is likely to be deferred by a few months, as the government is yet to take a final decision on the issue.
The Civil Supplies Corporation, which spearheads the food security programme under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), has proposed initiating the fine rice distribution on Telugu New Year’s Day, Ugadi, which falls on March 30, 2025. This proposal is pending consideration by the State government.
Fine rice requirementTo meet the needs under the PDS, welfare hostels, and other government-sponsored initiatives, the State government would require at least 24 lakh metric tonnes of fine rice annually. The highest fine rice procurement ever achieved by the Corporation was only 19 lakh metric tonnes in 2021-22. However, officials are optimistic about achieving the necessary fine rice procurement, given the record paddy production. Grade A paddy, comprising 32 varieties, was cultivated on over 40.44 lakh acres out of the total 66.77 lakh acres of paddy area.
Procurement problems despite this optimism, the fair average quality specifications set by the Corporation have placed it at a disadvantage compared to private traders and rice exporters from within the State and regions like Tamil Nadu and northern States. This season, private traders from outside the State dominated the purchases in the market.
The Rs.500 per quintal bonus announced by the State government for fine varieties failed to deter farmers from selling their Grade A paddy to private millers and traders. These private traders, incentivised by rice exports, are actively buying in major markets such as Nizamabad and Nalgonda. Due to uncertainties in fine rice procurement, the Corporation has halted fine rice deliveries to the Food Corporation of India. To accommodate late arrivals of paddy from northern Telangana districts, the Corporation has extended Kharif marketing operations, especially paddy purchases, until the end of January.
Current procurement status
As of now, 8 lakh metric tonnes of paddy have been procured during the Kharif marketing season, with ‘Sanna Rakam’ paddy accounting for a little over 2.5 lakh tonnes. The procurement process will continue for another two and a half months. The supply of fine rice through the PDS is expected to benefit approximately 89,96,000 white ration cardholder families, in addition to 40 lakh students in welfare hostels and other beneficiaries of various schemes.
This article has been republished from The Telangana Today