Change in allocation of wheat and rice for distribution under PDS in nine states

26-Sep-2024 02:29 PM

New Delhi. In view of the limited availability of stock in the central pool, the government had reduced or ended the distribution of wheat in some states under the National Food Security Act. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana and started allocating rice equivalent to it.

But now in view of the high market price of wheat, the government has decided to start it again in those states. While it has been decided to start the process from next month i.e. October 2024, a stock of 35 lakh tonnes of wheat has been allocated in this post till March 2025.

In June 2022 itself, the allocation of wheat for PDS in 9 states of the country - Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal was either sold or its quantity was reduced.

Now its distribution will start again from October. This means that the situation of food grain distribution will be restored which was prevalent before June 2022. It is worth noting that no change has been made in the quantity of distribution of food grains per person and it will remain stable at 5 kg per month.

As far as coarse grains are concerned, its allocation in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu will remain unchanged for October 2024, while it will change from November 2024.

The validity period for lifting the revised quantity of food grains for the month of October will be from 24 September 2024 for the next 30 days and thereafter it will be in accordance with the guidelines of the Food and Public Distribution Department.

If any quantity has been lifted earlier, it will be adjusted in the allocation for October. It is noteworthy that wheat is consumed heavily in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Bihar. Now the beneficiaries will start receiving wheat there.