CHENNAI: The offtake of rice under the public distribution system has come down substantially in the last three months, thanks to a fall in the open market price of rice and the steps taken by the State Government to check the diversion of PDS rice to the open market.

The monthly offtake, which stood at 2.60 lakh tonnes from September to December last year, came down to 2.2 lakh tonnes in the last three months, owing to abundant availability of rice at a reasonable price in the open market, according to officials of the Civil Supplies Department here.

They said rice was available from Rs.10 to Rs. 15 a kg in the open market, depending on the quality. Though the price of the PDS rice was Rs. 3.50 a kg, many cardholders were not purchasing it as they felt that the quality would not be good. Only when the open market price increased steeply would the people go in for the PDS rice, irrespective of its quality, the officials said.

Moreover, the Government had tightened enforcement to prevent the diversion of the PDS rice to the open market. The officials said that it was a lucrative business to smuggle ration rice and sell it in the open market. On an average, smugglers "earn" Rs. 5 a kg. But stringent steps, taken by the Civil Supplies CID, helped to prevent diversion to some extent. But still, 10 per cent of the PDS rice was being diverted.

To meet its PDS requirement, the State is lifting the entire allotment of 1.68 lakh tonnes under the below poverty line (Rs. 5.65 a kg) and AAY (Rs. 3) categories and the rest from the above poverty line category (Rs.9.15) from the Central pool.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail