PDS rice finds its way into open market

Anantapur: The Telugu Desam government’s pet subsidised rice scheme conceived by the party’s founder N T Rama Rao has helped the party ride to power several times in the past. But the same scheme is now being watered down by the beneficiaries themselves, both eligible and ineligible, apart from the deep nexus between the dealers and black marketeers.

About 40 per cent of both eligible and ineligible ration cardholders are actually defeating the very purpose of the scheme.One reason for eligible white ration cardholders indulging in sale of their quota rice is their ability to purchase fine quality rice as the government is dumping all the welfare scheme benefits on them in the form a house, scholarships to children, MNREGA wages even though there are more than two wage earners in a family, free medical treatment, etc., .

These benefits help to upgrade their lifestyle. Besides hundreds of ineligible white cardholders are also selling Rs 1 a kg rice at Rs 8 a kg to middlemen. For instance, villagers of Marthadu, Kotanka, Sirivaram, Garladinne, Bukkarayasamudram and Singanamala areas sell their quota rice to middlemen, who collect the rice and transport them through secret routes, including the HLC canal route, and finally dispose them of in the town.

The so-called weaker section whose economic lot had improved after benefiting from the multiple economic support and welfare schemes are opting for Sona Masuri rice. The middlemen in villages collect the subsidised rice and sell them at Rs 15 a kg to pushcart hoteliers who operate tiffin centres on the main roads and street corners in the district headquarters. There are also small rice traders who openly sell quota rice at Rs 10 and more.

The middle class purchases the rice for preparing idlis and dosas in their homes. For the middle class, the breakfast budget comes down drastically because of their quota rice purchase. The mobile canteen operators use the rice for making ragi malt, kushka apart from dosas, etc., Floating population in the district depends on these pushcart hotels for tiffin and subsidised cooked rice.

Whoever supplies the rice, be it beneficiaries, ration shop dealers or the middlemen, their market is the pushcart hotels. The middlemen who supply the rice as well as the purchasers argue that ultimately the rice is benefiting only the poorer and lower middle class sections and so what is the big deal about the illegal sales and purchases, they ask.

The rice is being concealed in fertiliser bags and diverted to Anantapur food market. The district has 10.50 lakh white ration cards, 2,762 fair price shops and 24,000 metric tonnes of subsidised rice is supplied to the district every month. District Supply Officer Prabhakara Rao when asked to comment on a section of the beneficiaries disposing of their quota rice to black marketeers, stated that when a beneficiary himself indulges in unfair practices, there is little authorities could do except when they are caught red-handed.

When the government is spending hundreds of crores in providing subsidies to them, the beneficiaries should not indulge in self defeating exercise. The department has been taking action against erring ration shop dealers who are indulging in unfair practices, he added.