Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Saturday that Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies K.V. Thomas had agreed to review the quantity of foodgrains that the Centre allocated for supply as ration in the State on the basis of the latest strength of people with ration cards.
Mr. Chandy, along with Mr. Thomas, Food and Civil Supplies Minister T.M. Jacob, and Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan, was addressing a press conference after a high-level meeting in Thiruvalla.
He said the joint meeting of officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Ministries of the Union and the State governments on Saturday had decided to enhance the allocation of foodgrains to those above the poverty line from 10.5 kg to 15 kg.
The Chief Minister said the Centre had so far been taking as basis the 45 lakh people with ration cards in 2001 in the State for allocating foodgrains. The number had increased to 74 lakh in 10 years, but the allocation had not increased. Another three lakh applications for ration cards waiting for decision in the next 100 days would add to the number.
He said the Centre had offered assistance to launch an open market sale scheme to supply rice at Rs. 16 a kg through the outlets of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation. The Union Minister had promised assistance to check the rise in prices of essential commodities by strengthening the public distribution system.
More sugar
Mr. Chandy said the Centre had agreed to sanction an additional 7,446 tonnes of sugar for the Onam season.
He said the meeting has decided to augment the storage capacity of the Food Corporation of India in the State by setting up modern grain warehouses at Chingavanom in Kottayam, Meenangady in Wayanad, and Arakkulam in Idukki. The State government would provide land at Meenangady and Arakkulam, while the corporation had land at its Chingavanom yard.
Mr. Chandy said the State Warehousing Corporation would explore the possibility of setting up small warehouses in all 14 districts. It would seek private participation, if needed, for it.
The Chief Minister said the government had identified two acres of land at Purakkad in Alappuzha district for setting up a modern central warehouse for Kuttanad with capacity to store 4,000 tonnes of foodgrains.
He said the government had decided to clear in 30 days the Rs.100 crore arrears due to farmers for the paddy procured from them.
The Union Minister said India had registered a record food production and was thinking of extending food assistance to Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Mr. Jacob said the Rs. 2-a-kg rice scheme for cardholders above the poverty line was under process and would be launched soon.
