Mumbai : Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the state has enough stocks of rice and the prices are unlikely to escalate, and also appealed to people not to worry.
Industry body Assocham, in its study earlier this week, had predicted that due to the failed Kharif season rice prices may escalate just like those of pulses and onion earlier this year.
However, the statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office said that the state government is already providing rice at Rs 3 per kg to over 7.5 crore people of the state and will continue doing so as there is adequate stock of rice in the state and the government has also made good purchases of rice.
While implementing the National Food Security ordinance, the state decided to give the benefit of the scheme to 7.17 crore beneficiaries of the public distribution system.
The beneficiaries of the Antyodaya scheme are getting 35 kg per family per month and beneficiaries of food security scheme are getting 5 kg per person per month.
A total of 1,68,425 tonnes of rice is being distributed under these schemes every month at the rate of Rs 3 per kg. Moreover, the government is also providing over 13,600 tonnes of rice for the farmers’ families in drought hit districts, the statement said.
“The fact that the government is able to distribute over 1.82 lakh tonnes of rice to over 7.68 crore beneficiaries at subsidised rates itself suggests that most of the people of the state have benefitted from the scheme. The state has adequate stock to continue running the scheme and the purchases too are adequate,” Fadnavis said in his statement.
Current price trend in the rice market, too, is lower compared to last year’s prices, a CMO official pointed out. While the prices of non-basmati rice are around 15% lower than the last year’s rates, the prices of basmati rice have declined sharply by about 30%.
The Assocham study had said rice stocks have declined in last three years from 24.59 million tonnes in 2012 to 13.89 million tonnes (plus unlimited paddy 3.61 tonnes) in stocks at present.
“Increasing export outgo on account of PDS (Public Distribution System) and other welfare schemes will continue to weigh on availability in the open market. Unless government is able to handle the situation prudently, depleting stocks will soon reflect on the open market prices,” the study had argued.
