The Chief Minister of Puducherry V. Narayanasamy today met with the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan. The Puducherry Chief Minister explained that due to drought in the Union Territory (U.T) from the past 2 years and various other factors, the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) model is more appropriate for the U.T. as compared to the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) model and requested that the U.T. be allowed to procure rice locally from the farmers directly.Shri Narayanasamy requested the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan to allow procurement of 80,000 tonnes of Paddy locally from the farmers out of which 48,000 tonnes of Rice can be extracted. The National Food Security Act requirement of Puducherry is 45,000 tonnes. He also demanded that Single boiled Rice should be provided through the Public Distribution Scheme.
The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan gave in principal approval to the demands of the Chief Minister of Puducherry but requested him to ensure that the beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act are provided their due share in a fair and transparent manner. Shri Paswan stressed that PDS shops should be accurately tagged with the beneficiaries, proper transportation should be arranged for taking the procured rice to the PDS shops, checks should be kept on PDS shops with regular inspections and any malpractice should be immediately reported.This move is likely to reduce the costs involved with procurement and transportation of Rice from other states as the U.T. will be able to procure the required rice locally and also ensure that the local farmers are able to get the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) for their produce. The Chief Minister of Puducherry Shri V. Narayanasamy assured the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan that a detailed proposal in this regard will be given to the Ministry within 15 days.