The Telangana government is launching a new welfare scheme to benefit over two crore people. This initiative, called the ‘Fine Rice Distribution Scheme,’ will provide high-quality rice to white ration card holders.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will officially start the scheme on Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, which falls on March 30. The launch event will be held at the famous Mattapalli Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in the Huzurnagar Assembly constituency.
After attending a traditional ritual called ‘Panchanga Sravanam’ at the temple, the Chief Minister will distribute rice to local beneficiaries. From April 1, the regular distribution of fine rice will begin at Fair Price Shops across the state.
To ensure the smooth implementation of the scheme, Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy held a meeting with officials. He instructed the Civil Supplies department to maintain enough rice stock to meet demand for at least four months.
The government has also introduced a Rs 500 bonus per quintal for fine variety paddy to encourage farmers to grow more of it. Officials have confirmed that there is enough stock of fine rice to keep the scheme running until the next harvest season.
Under this scheme, each family member of a white ration card holder will receive 6 kg of fine rice. The programme will cover 91.19 lakh white ration cards, including beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act, Annapurna, and the Telangana government’s white ration card scheme. Around 2.87 crore people will receive fine rice every month.
Currently, the state has eight lakh tonnes of fine rice stored in its godowns. Additional stocks will be available from rice mills in April. The main goal of the scheme is to ensure that people, especially those from poor backgrounds, consume high-quality rice regularly.
Officials noted that in the past, many beneficiaries sold the coarse rice given through Fair Price Shops instead of eating it. By providing fine rice, the government hopes to ensure that people include better-quality rice in their daily diet.
Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy explained that the earlier rice distribution programme did not fully meet its nutritional goals. He believes that by distributing only fine rice, the revised scheme will help improve the diet of poor families.
