The State government has finalised a deal with Andhra Pradesh for procuring six essential food items at affordable rate.
Addressing the media after a round of discussions here on Tuesday, Kerala Food Minister G.R. Anil and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart K.P. Nageswara Rao said the Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies Corporation would procure 3,840 tonnes of premium quality Jaya rice directly from farmers at minimum support price every month and transport it by train to Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Kannur. Only the processing and transport charges would be added to the grain price, the Ministers said.
Mr. Rao said the Andhra Pradesh government was not seeking a profit on the deal with Kerala. “We will ensure MSP for farmers in our State and provide good quality rice for consumers in Kerala,” he said.
Mr. Anil said a memorandum of understanding would be signed with the Andhra Pradesh government soon for procurement. Kerala would procure another five grocery items from Andhra Pradesh, it was decided at the meeting. These include red chilli, Kashmiri chilli, coriander seeds, chickpea, and cow pea.
“Some of these items will be procured this season itself and they would be supplied to consumers in Kerala from December,” Mr. Anil said.
The meeting also resolved to engage an independent agency for quality inspection of the grocery items at the point of origin and the destination. More items would be included in the grocery basket if the initial procurement process achieved positive results, the Ministers said.
Andhra Pradesh Food Commissioner Babu, Civil Supplies Corporation Managing Director G.Veerapandian and senior officials accompanied Mr. Rao. The Kerala delegation included Food Secretary Ali Asgar Pasha, Food and Civil Supplies Commissioner Sajith Babu, and Supplyco CMD Sanjeev Kumar Padjoshi.
Kerala had embarked on the direct procurement process and turned to Andhra Pradesh in a move aimed at eliminating middlemen from the supply chain and bring the galloping price of foodgrains and grocery items under control.
Meanwhile, the first mobile rice outlet of the Civil Supplies Corporation will be flagged off here by Mr. Anil here on Wednesday. Ration card holders can buy 10 kg of Jaya, Kuruva, Matta, and white rice through the mobile outlets to be deployed in 500 panchayats and taluks across the State.
