Uttam tells officials to check if free rice scheme reaching eligible poor

Hyderabad: Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday directed the officials to have a random check on the free rice scheme beneficiaries to know whether it was reaching the eligible poor.

At a review meeting with the department officials on rice supply, he asked them to be more transparent about the supply to the poor. “The government is giving 1.8 lakh metric tonnes of free rice to people. But officials need to see if people are using it or not. We are giving rice free to people after collecting it at Rs 39 a kg. But if they are not consumed by the poor then such a big and great free rice scheme will be useless,” said Reddy.

The minister said, instead of name sake attempts, officials should look for mistakes. ‘They should study how rice can be a useful scheme for the poor. Random check should be done from beneficiaries in the State. Information should be collected from people. It should be more useful for people. The rice given to the poor should not be misused in any way, he stressed.

The minister asked why there was a delay in rice collection from millers. He sought details of grain being purchased from farmers across the State by the Civil Supplies department. He said Civil Supplies was an important department in the State for procurement from farmers. The government will implement the promise of subsidy of Rs 500 on gas cylinder and Rs 500 on paddy procurement within 100 days, he said.

Reddy observed the PDS rice was being diverted from the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries should be given rice which can be consumed. Stating that there were 2.8 crore beneficiaries, the department should take all steps for procurement. Action should be taken so that money goes to farmers immediately. The previous government had taken a loan of Rs 56,000 crore on the department as the Finance wing did not help. The Civil Supplies corporation is in losses of Rs 11,000 crore, he said.

Stating that there was a demand for new ration cards, the minister said he would take the issue to the CM. He alleged that the nine-and-a-half-year-old BRS rule had all flaws. Those who took rice on ration cards did not exceed 89%, he pointed out. The situation of all corporations was not good in the State, he alleged.