The Centre has abruptly cut the rice quota of the state putting the much-hyped Rs 2-a-kg rice scheme in jeopardy. The populist scheme was launched with much fanfare on April 9 and was expected to give a major boost to the Congress chances in the bypolls and the Assembly elections. Sources said that a worried Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, who is in New Delhi, took up the issue with the Union agriculture minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, and requested him to restore the original allocation. Dr Reddy pointed out to Mr Pawar that the Centre’s move would throw out of gear the public distribution system of the state.
The state government has urged the Centre to restore the 2007-2008 allocation of 3,18,287 metric tonnes of rice per month. Of this, 54,524 metric tonnes were for Antodaya Anna Yojana, 87,674 metric tonnes for Below Poverty Line population and 1,76,086 metric tonnes for Above Poverty Line population. The state requires 3,01,110 metric tonnes of rice per month for BPL population (White ration card holders and AAY card holders). However, the Centre delivered a shocker by allotting only 2,73,532 metric tonnes this month.
This means the government would have to divert rice meant for the APL population to meet the additional quantity of rice required for the subsidised rice scheme. But this is not going to be easy either since only 1,31,334 metric tonnes of APL rice has been allocated to the state this month as against the normal allocation of 1,76,089 metric tonnes. Dr Reddy complained to Mr Pawar that the total allotment of rice to the subsidised rice scheme had been reduced by 44,755 metric tones per month. “This would severely hamper the distribution of rice to white card holders,” he is learnt to have said. The Centre’s excuse is that though 38,19,444 metric tonnes was allotted to the state in 2007-08, only 34, 78,371 metric tonnes were lifted.
But the proposed allotment for 2008-2009 is only 32, 82,384 metric tones which is 5, 37,060 metric tonnes less than the earlier quota. This reduction is much more than the quantity which was not lifted, which came to 3, 41,073 metric tonnes. In Delhi, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, sought more allocation of rice to the state from the Central pool.
Speaking to reporters after meeting the Union agriculture minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, on the issue, Dr Reddy said the state wanted additional release of rice from the central quota for PDS. He quoted Mr Pawar as saying that the Centre would consider releasing additional rice to AP if the state could procure more than its quota of 62 lakh tonnes. The Chief Minister said he would discuss the issue with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the finance minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Tuesday
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