AP's broken-rice policy to go national from next month, says Manohar

 Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies Minister N Manohar said the Centre will adopt the Andhra Pradesh’s policy of limiting broken rice in supplies under the public distribution system to 10 percent across the country, starting next month.

The minister, who was on a two-day visit to Delhi, said the state had successfully implemented the policy as a pilot project with the objective of increasing rice consumption and the Centre’s decision to adopt the approach nationwide was a matter of pride for Andhra Pradesh.

“We successfully implemented in the state, as a pilot project, the policy of reducing the quantity of broken rice in the rice supplied to people through fair price shops to 10 percent, with the expectation that this would increase rice consumption. The Centre is going to issue orders from next month to implement this policy across all states under the public distribution system,” said Manohar in an official press release late on Tuesday.

According to him, the move would mark a major change in the 30-year-old PDS rice distribution system and that the approach adopted by Andhra Pradesh would help further strengthen the public distribution system.

Manohar also said the NDA coalition government was regularly reviewing prices of essential commodities in the open market and taking measures to ensure their availability at affordable rates.

He said onion prices have increased in the open market owing to El Nino conditions and other factors, and the government was working to provide relief to consumers during such periods.

“Officials of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) have responded positively to making onions available to the people of the state at a subsidised price of Rs 32 per kg from next week using the Central Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF),” said Manohar.

He said onions would be sold through 115 Rythu Bazars across the state as well as mobile counters, as suggested by Agriculture Minister K Atchannaidu.

The minister said his meetings with officials of the Union Ministry and NCCF had also resulted in a positive response to providing toor dal (a type of pulse) and palm oil to the state at subsidised prices.

Accordingly, 1.2 lakh tonnes of toor dal and 86,400 kilolitres of palm oil would be supplied at subsidised prices to 1.4 lakh families through fair price shops.

Manohar said that providing quality essential commodities at prices 30 percent lower than the prevailing open market rates would offer relief to ordinary consumers, with each cardholder receiving one kilogram of toor dal.

Manohar expressed gratitude to the Centre for extending appropriate support to the state through the Central price stabilisation fund.

He also said the state was starting 1,000 Mee Marts by linking them with the NCCF to provide commodities to consumers at lower prices.

Agreements in this regard had already been completed and another 130 Mee Marts were being readied, after which they would be brought to the notice of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for inauguration across the state.

The Mee Marts would provide quality commodities at lower prices, he said.

On paddy procurement, Manohar said the Civil Supplies Department had finalised its plan for the coming Kharif season and was gearing up to procure about 38 lakh tonnes of paddy in the state.