Tamil Nadu bucks national trend in rice off-take

Drawal rose only marginally in April-June 2020 when compared to corresponding period last year

Tamil Nadu has bucked the national trend when it comes to rice off-take from the Central pool.

Unlike many other States, which had doubled their drawal under various schemes of the Central government, including COVID-19 relief schemes, during April-June 2020 when compared to the corresponding period last year, Tamil Nadu had seen only a marginal increase in rice off-take. Tamil Nadu had lifted 13.08 lakh tonnes of rice during April-June 2019, and its offtake was only 13.5 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period this year, in spite of the State having availed itself of the special schemes announced by the Centre to mitigate the hardship faced by the people due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Andhra Pradesh, a major rice-producing State in the south, lifted one-and-a-half times the quantity of rice it had drawn during the three-month period last year.

This year’s off-take included the quantities of rice drawn by T.N. under three special schemes – 5.36 lakh tonnes under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, and 36,000 tonnes and 1.98 lakh tonnes under schemes for migrant workers and non- priority household (NPHH) cardholders, respectively.

Different explanations have been given by officials of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC). As far as the Central agency is concerned, Tamil Nadu’s policy of having a universal public distribution system is a major reason for its current position. As the State does not make any distinction between priority household and NPHH cardholders, if both fall under the category of rice-drawing cardholders, an enormous quantity of rice will be required. This makes the State keep on drawing its usual allocation of rice from the Central pool as early as possible. The FCI also allows States to draw their requirement of rice or wheat up to six months in advance. If and when T.N. exhausts its share of rice in a given year, it buys the commodity from FCI under the Open Market Sales Scheme, or from other States.

A TNCSC official said the State’s requirements only determined the pattern of offtake. In the three-month period, the maximum quantity of rice was drawn from the Central agency, apart from procurement from farmers in T.N. In the end, Tamil Nadu’s position should be judged by the way in which it makes use of the rice drawn. In April-June, around 17 lakh tonnes of rice were provided to PDS beneficiaries, the official added.

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