NEW DELHI: GR Anil, the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies in his meeting with Piyush Goyal, Union minister of Food and Public Distribution requested to increase the allocation of rice for Kerala. He informed that discontinuing the PM-GKAY scheme which offered 5kg of grains as free has negatively impacted Kerala which is a consumer state.

Although the rice which was given at the rate of 3 rupees and wheat which was given at the rate of 2 rupees to the priority card holders have been made free, not increasing the allocation has created a crisis. After the implementation of the Food Security Act, there has been a decrease of 2 lakh million metric tons of food grain for Kerala state. The request to increase allocation for the tide-over allocation that will help in the distribution of rice for 57% of people in addition to the ration distribution has also not been considered. But Piyush Goyal has updated that the matter of increasing the rice allocation will be considered after the census.

‘The accounts are up-to-date as the Aadhar card and rations cards have been linked in the state, the stand of central government is suspicious’ says Anil. In the public distribution chain, the instruction from the Center is that only fortified rice has to be distributed. The request to exempt the nutritious chemba rice from this has also not been considered. The chemba rice has to be exempted from the process of fortification or the central should bare the extra expenses. Kerala requested to immediately allot an amount of 461 crores which includes 405 crores for rice procurement, 51.34 crores regarding the distribution of grains through the PM-KAY, and sugar subsidy.