100-day target: He said state would supply LPG cylinders at ₹500 each and pay farmers a ₹500 bonus on paddy MSP.
Published Dec 12, 2023 | 6:40 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 12, 2023 | 6:40 PM
Telangana Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy at a review meeting.
Newly-appointed Telangana Civil Supplies and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday, 12 December, asked state government officials to improve the quality of the subsidised rice being supplied to the economically backward people in the state.
Referring to the six guarantees made by the Congress party ahead of the elections, he said that the state government would supply LPG cylinders at ₹500 each and procure paddy from farmers by paying ₹500 per quintal as a bonus over and above the MSP, within the next 100 days.
Speaking at a review meeting with the officials of the department and those of the Civil Supplies Corporation, he said that out of the six kg of rice supplied to the beneficiaries, the state was required to provide one kg and the rest would be provided by the Union government.
He added that the rice that was being supplied by the state — one kg of rice per head in a family — was not fit for consumption.
Reddy said there were about 2.8 crore beneficiaries who were eligible to draw subsidy rice against their ration cards and the the rice that was supposed to reach them had been diverted for other uses.
He said that the statistics indicated that subsidised rice was not procured by 89 percent of the white ration card (APL card) holders and yet there was a demand for the issue of new ration cards.
“I will take this to the notice of the chief minister and take steps for improving the situation,” he said.
He said that it was necessary to survey to ascertain the reason behind the beneficiaries not preferring the rice being supplied by the Civil Supplies Corporation.
“We are providing 1.8 lakh metric tonnes of rice to the people for free. We should check whether the people are actually consuming them. We are procuring rice at the rate ₹30 per kg. If the poor do not eat the rice that we are supplying them, the very purpose of the scheme is defeated,” he said.
Referring to the procurement of the paddy, he said that the department has to take all measures in time and ensure that the farmers get the money immediately. The Civil Supplies Corporation has remained mired in a debt of ₹56,000 crore because the Finance Department of the state government did not release funds.
He said that the Civil Supplies Corporation has 88 lakh tonnes of paddy worth ₹18,000 with millers without any security or bank guarantee from them. As much as 1.17 lakh metric tonnes of paddy is with the civil supplies corporation.
The corporation is in losses to the tune of ₹11,000 crore.
“We will discuss these issues in the Cabinet and take appropriate measures to rectify the situation,” he said.
“There were systemic deficiencies during the past nine and half years (of BRS rule),” Reddy said.
