Minister for Civil Supplies, Food and Consumer Affairs Nadendla Manohar interacting with The Hindu in Vijayawada.
| Photo Credit: Giri KVS
Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Nadendla Manohar said that the Civil Supplies Department (CSD) was geared up to supply fine quality rice for providing midday meal in schools from the next academic year.
The packing of this variety of rice would be done in boxes at five logistics points in the State and sent to schools directly from there. Steps were taken to prevent pilferage, he said in an interview with The Hindu, with the promise that the meals would from now on be nutritious.
He stated that the number of beneficiaries of the Deepam-2 scheme (three free gas cylinders) was poised to cross one crore by the end of this month. This was a significant milestone that was giving the NDA government tremendous satisfaction. It was one of the Super Six election promises of the NDA.
The payment of dues amounting to ₹1,674 crore to farmers on account of the paddy procured from them during 2019-24 within just one month after coming to power was another shot in the arm for the ruling coalition, he observed.
He noted that the paddy procurement was disorganised during the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) regime, when the farmers had no freedom to sell the produce to rice mills of their choice.
Ever since the NDA took the reins, paddy procurement had been a smooth affair due to the introduction of a WhatApp channel for selling their grains.
It was a phenomenal success in the kharif season, which was soon drawing to a close, as the government procured 33,52,000 metric tons and credited about ₹8,000 crore into the farmers’ bank accounts, 98% of it within 24 hours. The farmers should have e-KYC and e-Cropping done.
The movement of paddy was being tracked using GPS devices and the warehouses were equipped with AI-enabled cameras that gave real-time updates of the stock positions.
Mr. Manohar said the government was glued to the task of curbing the smuggling of rice meant for supply under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
The manner in which PDS rice was exported against all norms was shocking and the major haul of the commodity being smuggled out of the Kakinada Port was a case which the government was very serious about as the poor were obviously going hungry in spite of the lofty goal of the National Food Security Mission, he said.
Published – March 22, 2025 10:55 pm IST
