El Nino impact Telangana govt explores adding essential commodities to PDS

• Officials have been tasked with finalising procurement modalities, per-beneficiary allocations and the overall budgetary impact before placing the formal proposal before the state cabinet for a final decision.

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Hyderabad : The Telangana government is actively considering expanding its Public Distribution System (PDS) to include a basket of essential commodities alongside rice, aiming to shield households from potential inflation and supply pressures driven by anticipated El Nino impacts.

Reviewing food security measures at the Secretariat, Minister for Civil Supplies and Irrigation N Uttam Kumar Reddy directed officials to evaluate financial models for distributing subsidized essentials to family’s dependent on the PDS.

Commodities under evaluation

While final quantities and financial implications are still being computed, the Civil Supplies Department is reviewing the inclusion of the following items:

Staples: Wheat flour,
Pulses & Condiments: Red gram (toor dal),
tamarind, and chilli powder
Edible Oils & Sweeteners: Palm oil and sugar

Officials have been tasked with finalising procurement modalities, per-beneficiary allocations and the overall budgetary impact before placing the formal proposal before the state cabinet for a final decision.

Telangana stocks

The Civil Supplies Department’s stock position as of October 16 showed 9.64 lakh metric tonnes of rice available in buffer godowns.

This included 3.50 lakh metric tonnes under the Central Pool and OWS and 6.14 lakh metric tonnes under the State Pool. A further 18.39 lakh metric tonnes of rice was expected to be received through pending Custom Milled Rice (CMR) deliveries and other identified supplies.

Availability at 28.03 lakh metric tonnes

With the existing stocks and pending receipts taken together, the department estimated total availability at 28.03 lakh metric tonnes, sufficient to meet the combined PDS and other welfare requirements for approximately 11.7 months, up to September 2027.

Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy emphasised the importance of ensuring that the quantities expected from millers and other sources actually reach the government’s stocks on schedule.

The stock position provides a substantial cushion for another five months.

Reddy underscored that the food security of millions of beneficiaries must remain protected even if future crops are adversely affected by natural calamities.