Southern States
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Tamil Nadu
Rice smuggling to A.P., a thriving business
By K.T. Sangameswaran
CHENNAI, DEC. 11. With the Tamil Nadu Government deciding not to hike the ``politically sensitive'' price of rice in the public distribution system till April, smuggling of rice to neighbouring States, particularly Andhra Pradesh, is likely to continue.
Official sources told The Hindu that seizure by police of rice about to be smuggled to Andhra Pradesh and Kerala was only the tip of the iceberg. They estimated that much more quantity was being pushed into the neighbouring states through various forms of transport.
The cumulative effect of the policy of supplying rice to all cardholders, mostly of poor quality, active connivance of some salesmen in the PDS outlets and poor supervision by civil supplies and cooperatives department authorities enabled smugglers to thrive on the poverty of the people in Andhra Pradesh. A good profit margin for smugglers keeps the activity going, the sources explained.
The Government allowed Rs. 1,500 crores as subsidy for rice being sold at Rs. 3.50 a kg through the PDS outlets. If the price was increased to Rs. 9 a kg, as proposed earlier, the subsidy component would drastically come down to about Rs. 600 crores, relieving the strain on the State exchequer. However, successive governments had moved away from interfering with the price of rice in the PDS for political reasons.
As the price of PDS rice in Andhra Pradesh was higher than in Tamil Nadu, smugglers sold the commodity to casual labourers with a good profit margin. If the rice price was revised as originally decided by the Government, smuggling would not be a lucrative proposition, the sources said.
There had been a rise in the smuggling trend over the years. About 1,900 quintals of rice, meant to be smuggled to Andhra Pradesh, was seized by the police till November-end. Besides lorries, the EMU locals upto (Gummidipoondi and Sulurpet) came in handy to smugglers to operate easily, though only small quantities were smuggled.
To prove as a deterrent against diversion of rice from the PDS in the State, the Civil Supplies CID besides detaining blackmarketeers under the Prevention of Blackmarketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980, for the first time booked three salesmen under the legislation, this year.
Smuggling of PDS rice could be further reduced if the civil supplies authorities also exercised greater vigil. Though it had been laid down that regular checks should be conducted by them in the fair price shops to prevent diversion, the procedure was only on paper. Also, the allotment of commodities to each shop could be further tightened based on the demand, leaving little scope to manipulate the stocks, the sources said.
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