R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, JULY 5
The Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency of the union government is procuring, milling and distribution of food grains to all states under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) has allocated 16.5 lakh Metric Tonnes of food grains – 15.78 lakh MT Rice and 72,830 MT of Wheat) to Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry between April 2020 and June 2021 as part of Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), said R D Nazeem, Executive Director, South Zone, Food Corporation of India here on Monday.
Addressing reporters along with J S Syju, General Manager (TN) FCI, Nazeem said, “The additional supply of ration supply under the PMKGAY has now been extended till November 2021.”
Government of India has issued 16,50,000 MT additional food grains to TN & Puducherry: @FCI_India #PMGKAY @PiyushGoyal @nstomar @Secretary_DFPD @fooddeptgoi @PIBConsumerFood @MOFPI_GOI @PIBAgriculture @PIB_India @DG_PIB @airnews_Chennai @DDNewsChennai @fcisouthzone_pr pic.twitter.com/x6d2sZYemC
— PIB in Tamil Nadu (@pibchennai) July 5, 2021
Around 3.57 crore beneficiaries covered under NFSA in Tamil Nadu are provided with additional 5 kg of rice/wheat (per head) free of cost under PMGKAY. Under this scheme, Rs. 7,588.19 crore worth of additional quantity of rice from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and wheat from Punjab were supplied to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry during 2020-21. The entire expenses for additional supply of ration were borne by the union government, Nazeem added.
With a view to meet the obligations under the Universal PDS scheme (no exclusion of families based on income criteria), FCI has provided 10.09 lakh Metric Tonnes of food grains costing Rs 3,354 crore at a highly subsidized rate. The cost of rice per kilo after procuring, milling, transporting to the end beneficiaries costs between Rs 37 and Rs 38, Nazeem said.
Besides this, various NGOs and social welfare organizations have played their part in helping the poor and needy during the lockdown. FCI had given 40,800 Quintals of food grains to them at a highly subsidized rate.
FCI has storage space of 13.7 lakh MT in Tamil Nadu in its 68 depots. To meet the emergency, the storage capacity was increased to 17.06 lakh MT by the SWC and CWC godowns acoss the state.
The paddy procured from Delta and other districts in Tamil Nadu through 1168 DPCs and they were milled from 370 rice mills by the state government on behalf of the FCI for PDS. Even though paddy procured and milled directly by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, the officials of the FCI monitored the quality, Nazeem added.
He further said, “Extensive and detailed logistical planning has already been done by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to ensure that food grain stocks reach nook and corner of the state as per the allocation over May and June 2021. FCI Tamil Nadu is holding around 17,06,000 Metric Tonnes of Food Grains in its godowns. In addition to this, the State Government has already procured around 36.25 lakh MTs of paddy which would result in delivery of 24,16,000 Metric Tonnes of rice, in order to cater to the needs of beneficiaries of Tamil Nadu.”
Pointing out this as a huge challenge as it is double the normal allocation and the existing warehousing capacities and transportation systems are based on the regular allocations, he stated, “However, FCI Tamil Nadu is fully geared up for the challenge and its ability to deliver in the most challenging circumstances has already been demonstrated during the lockdown period when new records were set in terms of logistical operations.”
FCI had augmented to move in 7.59 lakh MTs of food grains through 100 trains every week from rice surplus states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha and wheat procuring states such as Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in order to meet the additional requirements of PMGKAY allocation during the first wave and second wave of Corona. A total number of 622 train loads of food grains were moved to Tamil Nadu, he added.
The main objective of the union government under the PMGKAY was to ensure that no one left with hungry during the pandemic, this was achieved by the meticulous planning of the FCI, Nazeem said.
B. Gurubabu, Director, PIB, Chennai was also present at the press briefing.
