BHUBANESWAR: After eight long years, ration card holders in Odisha are likely to get wheat along with rice as the Centre has revised wheat-rice ratio and increased allocation of the foodgrain to the state.
Sources said the allocation of rice and wheat under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) has been revised for nine states including Odisha.
In a communication to the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has informed that Odisha will get its quota of wheat from October onwards. “There would be no change in cost-sharing on account of such allocation including food subsidy, intra-state transportation and dealer’s margin. There is also no change in existing tide over allocation,” it stated.
As per the revised monthly allocation, the state will get 1,87,651.95 tonne of foodgrains, including 1,67,745.931 tonne rice and 19,906.019 tonne wheat. Around 3.26 crore people are covered under NFSA in Odisha.
In 2016, the Centre had cut down the wheat quota of Odisha following a request from the state government to provide more rice to Odisha. A rice consuming state, Odisha had asked the Centre to revise the rice and wheat ratio of 79:21 to 85:15. The wheat ratio dropped further in the wake of the grain’s dwindling availability due to lower opening stock, sluggish procurement and aggressive buying by private traders.
Last month, Food and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra had requested the Centre to provide wheat against 20 per cent of the rice quota. “The department of Food and Public Distribution has accepted our request and accordingly, the allocation has been revised. People will get wheat along with rice from October onwards,” Patra told mediapersons.
