Few eaters of subsidised rice

Many people buy and collect the poor variety of grains distributed through PDS only to sell it to middlemen

Revathi buys her quota of rice from fair price shop near her home in Chittinagar for Re 1 a kg every month - and consumes at least a part of her share.

Most others in this neighbourhood and elsewhere sell it for about Rs 10 a kg. "People don't like to eat it. We mix some of it in the fine rice we buy and we use a small portion to make idlis," said the labourer, 30, who works in a grocery shop.

Along with her husband, a barber, their joint income is about Rs 3,000 a month. They have three children.

Chittinagar is a working class area in Vijayawada, which is a part of the upcoming new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

In Chittinagar - and also in Nandigama, Kondapally and Vijayawada, all towns in the Krishna district - subsidised rice is usually sold to middlemen, who buy it at Rs 10 a kg from these Below Poverty Line families. The government spends about Rs 29 per kg in subsidies.

Most households claim their entire quota, but - as the fair price shop owners and householders revealed - few consume the rice. Some claim their quota each week, only to sell it to middlemen for a neat profit. Others don't even bother with that: They provide their biometric authentication (through finger or iris print) and the rest is taken care of.

The reason for this murky development is that most people don't like eating the rice, usually Grade A variety, distributed through the public distribution system (PDS). Even those with a modest income prefer the finer varieties such as BPT or sona masoori, cultivated in some parts of Andhra Pradesh, including Rayalaseema, and in Telangana.

"Even the poorest of the poor will not eat rice distributed through the PDS," Divi Leela Madhava Rao, general secretary, Andhra Pradesh Fair Price Shop Dealers' Association, told Business Standard.

"We have been telling the government to procure fine rice for Rs 30,000 a tonne instead of buying the Grade-A variety at Rs 28,000 per tonne. People will buy the fine rice, even if we sell it for Rs 10 a kg."

What do the middlemen do with the low-quality rice?

A number of things, claimed Sarampalli Malla Reddy, a farmers' association leader. The subsidised rice is often pumped back into the PDS cycle. Or, it is mixed with other varieties. Some of it is exported to Tamil Nadu and Kerala.