Hyderabad, October 27: Chief Minister K Rosaiah Monday directed officials at a review meeting on Civil Supplies Department affairs to complete verification of white ration cards by December.
Briefing the media on the deliberations, Civil Supplies Minister J Krishna Rao said verification was taken up in four phases. The first was over and the the remaining three would be completed by the end of December.
The names of white card holders would be read out at the grama sabhas and those possessing more than one card given the option as to which one to retain. At the same time, the names of those who had not received cards would be noted down, the minister said. He said there was no link between the verification process and upping of rice ration from 4 kg to 6, but that the enhancement was in keeping with an election promise.
Krishna Rao said about 4 lakh families would get LPG connections under the Deepam scheme and the government had paid about Rs 50 crore to the oil companies in this regard. He added that there was no problem of gas refill as Rs 80 crore was paid to the companies toward subsidy of Rs 25 on each refill.
The minister stated that the State Government had asked the Centre to open new godowns in the State which could store up to six lakh tonnes of paddy and that the Food Corporation of India would be entrusted with this job.
The State Warehousing Corporation was also gearing up to store paddy and tenders had been called for the construction of godowns, he said.
The government was going to buy maximum quantities of paddy produced in the kharif season through the FCI, IKP and Civil Supplies Corporation so that farmers could secure the minimum support price.
The minister clarified that this year the government would procure only paddy and no boiled rice. A meeting on procurement would soon be held with millers, he said.
–Agencies–