Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said Telangana’s farmers have raised the highest-ever paddy crop overcoming the threats of the previous BRS government that ‘growing paddy equates to hanging one’s self to death’ and now they were part of a historic occasion of feeding free fine rice to over three crore population.
“This is a tribute to the farmers,” he said, adding that the fine rice scheme reflects the commitment of the Congress government towards people’s welfare. He was speaking after launching the country’s first scheme to distribute fine rice (sanna biyyam) at free of cost to the poor through ration shops, in Huzurnagar on Sunday.
He took a jibe at former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), saying the idea of giving fine rice to the poor never crossed his mind and he had threatened the farmers growing paddy. In contrast the Congress had rewarded the paddy farmers paying ₹1,199 crore in bonus to 4.41 lakh farmers during the latest procurement to supply free fine rice to millions. He said the scheme was here to stay and no government in future would dare to stop it.
Mr. Reddy recalled how late CM Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy started rice at ₹1.90 per Kg and later N T Rama Rao who changed the scene offering at ₹2 per kilo taking it to nook and corner of the State, he said Congress government now has rewritten history with free fine rice to 3.10 crore people.
Earlier, the coarse rice (thick and fat variety) supplied through the ration shops went into the black market as people did not consume it. Earlier people sold ration rice for ₹10 per kg and the millers recycled it to sell it back at ₹50. The CM noted that Telangana produces around 12 lakh tonnes of fine paddy, with Nalgonda district contributing 8 lakh tonnes.
Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said 80 to 90% of ration rice was diverted due to its poor quality and the fine rice scheme would be a “game changer in India’s food security landscape.”
Detailing the broader reforms in the PDS under the Congress government, he said at Telangana’s formation, the state had 89.73 lakh ration cards, and during the 10-year BRS rule, only 49,479 new cards were issued. Now with the new cards being issued the number will rise to 1 crore cards covering 3.10 crore beneficiaries.
The newly issued ration cards will be physical, QR-code-enabled cards, although they will not include electronic chips. There will be two types of colour-coded cards: – Tricolour cards for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and Green cards for Above Poverty Line (APL) households.
Published – March 31, 2025 03:00 am IST
