Hyderabad: Telangana’s Civil Supplies Minister, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, announced on Thursday that the government is planning to open new ration shops across the state. These shops will be established after carefully assessing their feasibility.
The Minister explained that the government is prepared to set up additional shops in areas where they are needed. However, he cautioned that opening too many new shops without proper evaluation could negatively impact the existing ration shop dealers. He highlighted that there are 4,000 tribal hamlets, recently upgraded to gram panchayats, where the viability of setting up ration shops will first be studied. This statement was made in response to a question posed by CPI member K Sambasiva Rao during the Assembly’s question hour.
Currently, 17,256 ration shops are operating across the state. Reddy acknowledged that ration shop dealers have requested an increase in their commission—from Rs 140 to Rs 300 per quintal—and an honorarium of Rs 30,000 per month for rural dealers and Rs 35,000–40,000 for urban dealers. He noted that these demands are under government review but involve significant financial implications.
The Minister also addressed the issue of illegal transportation of ration rice. He assured strict action against those caught engaging in such activities and promised to strengthen vigilance measures to prevent these violations.
Reddy revealed that three people were recently arrested in Nalgonda for diverting Public Distribution System (PDS) rice. He added that the commission for ration shop dealers was already increased from Rs 70 to Rs 140 per quintal in October 2023, and discussions are ongoing regarding further revisions.
