Make AP distribute free rice, GVL urges Centre

Vijayawada: Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao on Monday requested Union minister for food and consumer affairs Piyush Goyal to immediately intervene and prevail upon the Andhra Pradesh government to distribute free rice under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). In a letter to the Union minister, the BJP MP pointed out that the state government had not distributed the free rice to eligible families in April and May though the Centre extended the PMGKAY till September this year.

"In Andhra Pradesh, a population of 2.68 crore people in over 89 lakh households has benefitted from this scheme in five phases till March 2022. Over 25 lakh tonnes of rice was distributed and a subsidy of Rs 5,500 crore has been released to the state under the scheme," the MP said in the letter.

Though the sixth phase of the scheme has been launched till September, the BJP leader said the YSRCP government in the state has not distributed rice to eligible families in April and May but "misleading people" that the Centre and Food Corporation of India (FCI) have not released stocks.

"As a state that follows decentralised procurement system for rice, it is the duty of the AP government to procure paddy/rice and distribute rice and supply only additional stocks to FCI under the central pool," he noted. The claims of the YSRCP MLAs and anonymous state officials that the Central government or FCI have not released stocks are totally bogus and part of a malicious propaganda, Narasimha Rao said.

The Rajya Sabha member said his enquiries with the Centre and the FCI revealed that the state government has stock of 14 lakh tonne of rice whereas it required 1.2 lakh tonne per month for distribution under PMGKAY.

"Although the Central government is bearing the full cost of free rice distribution, it is extremely painful that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government is disrupting supplies under PMGKAY, mainly due to political reasons to tarnish the Narendra Modi government," the MP claimed. "The political machinations of YSRCP government are shocking, at a time when the people are suffering. I request your kind and timely intervention to ensure that the people of AP receive full benefits under PMGKAY," Narasimha Rao said requesting Piyush Goyal. (PTI)