The Telangana Government is contemplating a hike in price as well as quantity of rice given on subsidy to white ration card holders through the public distribution system. The proposal, if approved, can have “severe political implications” on the ruling TRS government.
At present, rice is supplied for just Rs 1 per kg under the Mana Biyyam (Our Rice) scheme that was announced by former chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy in January 2013.
The cabinet sub-committee headed by Finance Minister Etela Rajender, which met at the Secretariat Tuesday, discussed the issue plus the mechanism to weed out bogus cards by using the data compiled during the intensive household survey.
“These are only proposals that came up for discussion. Nothing has been finalised yet. We will submit a report to the Chief Minister after Dasara. He will take a final decision,” Mr Rajender told reporters after the meeting.
“Suggestions were made for increasing the price of subsidised rice from `3 to `5 per kg and the quantum of rice per individual from 4 to 5 kgs. In case of a family, it was proposed to supply up to 30 kgs instead of 20,” he said.
However, a final decision will be taken only by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, once the cabinet sub-committee, which will meet again after Dasara, submits its report.
At present there are 91.94 lakh white card holders in Telangana, while the total household as per 2011 Census was 84.20 lakh. Officials expect that nearly 20 lakh cards are bogus and need to be eliminated base on the Intensive Household Survey conducted on August 19.