Tur dal to be part of PDS

The State government will introduce de-husked red gram or tur dal in the food packet distributed to the poor through ration shops. Though the idea is old, the move has been spurred by the recent procurement of tur dal in north Karnataka districts.

The State government, with financial help from the Centre has bought over 2.5 lakh tonnes of the protein-rich grain, which is ten times the quantity bought last year through market intervention centres. The need to increase procurement was a result of the unprecedented production of around 14 lakh tonnes of tur dal, compared to just 10 lakh tonnes last year in the State.

“All these years when red gram was bought from farmers, it was auctioned in the open market and it would end up with the same traders who used to buy it from farmers. This would mean that though market intervention schemes helped farmers, it did not help the consumers. Selling tur through the PDS would make a huge difference in the economy of the poor and middle classes, while helping meet the gaps in their nutrition balance,” a senior officer from the Food and Civil Supplies department said.

As per the scheme, each BPL card holder will get a kilogram of tur dal. Old stock will be sold for ₹38 a kg and new packets for ₹40 a kg, from June 1.

The effective subsidy is around 50%. The price of red gram in the open market is between ₹90- 140 now. That should mean the people are getting the pulse for a third of the market price, government sources said.

However, the government faces some challenges. While the government has procured red gram, it needs to de-husk it to distribute it. Secondly, red gram sheds around 25-30% of weight during de-husking.

And unlike jowar or ragi, that are consumed in larger quantities in south Karnataka, tur dal is eaten across the State. So, the government will have to perfect its logistics practices to reach the packets to fair price shops in all districts.

“We are buying 1 kg packets of de-husked pulse from National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED). We have come to an agreement with the cooperative for providing us with 10 months supply,” Harsha Gupta, secretary food and civil supplies, said. The government is paying ₹70 per for 1 packet to NAFED. This, after deduction of ₹30 subsidy, will be sold.

“We have already built an effective network of trucks and put in place systems and processes to monitor movement of rice and other goods. We will bank on them,” he added.