Telangana Minister Issues Stern Warning, Vows Strict Action Against Recycling Units of Ration Rice

Hyderabad: Telangana’s Minister for Irrigation, Food, and Civil Supplies, Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy, issued a stern warning on Monday, cautioning rice millers and other entities involved in the recycling of PDS (ration) rice about severe consequences.

After a thorough inspection of a ration shop in Huzurnagar to evaluate the quality of rice and other services, Reddy expressed serious concerns regarding the diversion and misuse of ration rice. Presently, almost 54 lakh ration cardholders in Telangana receive five kg of rice from the Central Government and one kg from the State Government.

Additionally, the state government allocates 6 kg of rice every month for an additional 35 lakh ration cardholders. Regardless of whether it comes from the central or state government, the total procurement cost amounts to Rs 39 per kg. However, Reddy highlighted that nearly 70-75 per cent of ration rice is being recycled by millers and other unscrupulous entities.

“The state government takes this matter very seriously. Anyone found involved in the recycling of rice will face severe consequences. The Congress government is committed to taking stringent action against millers or any other individuals engaged in the recycling of ration rice,” he emphasised.

Reddy noted that the previous BRS government left the Civil Supplies Corporation with a staggering debt of about Rs 56,000 crore. When the BRS government assumed office in 2014, the debt was only Rs 3300 crore. Currently, the annual interest burden of the corporation, responsible for ration distribution and paddy procurement, exceeds Rs 3,000 crore. Over the past decade, the corporation has incurred losses of Rs 11,000 crore due to the gross neglect of the department by the previous government.

Furthermore, he criticized the distorted policy of the earlier BRS government, which entrusted paddy stocks worth Rs 22,000 crore to rice millers without any security or bank guarantee. The corporation now finds itself in a precarious position.

While Karnataka and Tamil Nadu offered to purchase substantial rice stocks from the Telangana Government, the previous government, for political reasons, opted to let the rice deteriorate in godowns, burdening the corporation with interest expenses instead of selling the rice at market prices to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. With limited storage space and a substantial interest burden, the corporation is in an alarming situation.

“We are exploring the sale of rice to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and considering an open sale of paddy stocks through a transparent mechanism. We are making efforts to rescue the corporation from its precarious position,” he announced.

Reddy informed that the last completed audit of the corporation was for the years 2018–19. “We will expedite the audit of the corporation and implement measures to streamline the department, enhancing services to ration cardholders and farmers from whom paddy is procured,” he said.