Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Rice shortage worry for Odisha -Subhashish Mohanty

Rice shortage worry for Odisha -Subhashish Mohanty

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Feb 4, 2016   modified Modified on Feb 4, 2016
-The Telegraph

Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik's flagship programme of rice distribution at Re 1 per kg might run into rough weather if the Centre continues to send more wheat instead of rice as required by the state under the National Food Security Act.

Concerned at the development, the chief minister has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to allocate more rice under the act instead of wheat.

"Odisha is a rice-consuming state and most people prefer rice as the main staple food. Failure to supply food grain according to the choice of the act's beneficiaries will be against its spirit," he said.

The Naveen Patnaik government had introduced Rs 2 per kilo rice shortly before the Assembly polls in 2009. It had paid rich dividends with the BJD sweeping the polls by winning 104 of the 147 Assembly seats. In January 2013, the government brought down the price of Rs 2 a kg rice by a rupee to improve its image ahead of the 2014 elections. The tactics clicked. The BJD government romped home with 117 seats in the Assembly and 20 seats in the Lok Sabha out of 21 from the state.

Under the populist rice scheme, a family below the poverty line is entitled to get 25kg of rice per month through the public distribution system.

According to the act's provisions, which came into force in November, an individual is entitled to either 5kg of rice or 5kg of wheat or both wheat and rice according to the beneficiary's requirement. But as the Centre pushes for more wheat, the state government has been forced to give rice and wheat to the beneficiaries instead of rice only.

"The Centre is giving wheat instead of rice. What will we do with the huge surplus of wheat?" asked an official of the state food and consumer welfare department.

Under the Public Distribution System, the Centre was earlier providing 1.43 lakh tonnes of rice and 25,781 tonnes of wheat to the state on an average every month.

After the act came into existence in last November, the Centre has been providing 99.66 thousand tonnes of rice and 45.40 tonnes of wheat against the state's requirement of 1.48 lakh tonnes of rice.

"The Centre has released 2.99 lakh tonnes of rice and 78.4 thousand tonnes of wheat between November and January. This has resulted in a shortfall of 27.9 thousand tonnes rice and a surplus of 25.5 tonnes of wheat," said a senior official of the food and consumer welfare department.

But during this three-month period, the state's requirement of rice from the Centre was 3.20 lakh tonnes and that of wheat was 52.9 thousand tonnes.

Official estimates reveal that around 86 per cent people of the state depend on rice and only 14 per cent consume wheat, which is the staple food of people in north India.

Food and consumer welfare secretary Madhu Sudan Padhi said: "We have urged the government of India to provide rice and wheat in the ratio of 85.82:14.18 derived from the preferences indicated by the beneficiaries in their NFSA applications. Supply of rice and wheat violating the norms will only create more trouble for the state."

The Telegraph, 4 February, 2016, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160204/jsp/frontpage/story_67412.jsp#.VrLYOlI1t_k


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close