Drought relief: Centre to give rice for 3 months to Puducherry

The Centre has assured drought- hit Puducherry to supply rice for around 11.5 lakh poor beneficiaries for initial three months, Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said today.
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today met Paswan and sought rice allocation for drought relief.
The Union Territory also demanded cash transfer for subsidised sugar for 30,000 poorest families under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), which was also accepted by the food ministry.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Paswan said, "The state had demanded foodgrains, especially rice, to provide relief to the 11.5 lakh poor beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System (PDS)".

"We have assured that we will provide rice for initial three months. We will discuss with the Agriculture Ministry and decide about the rest," he said.
With regard to sugar subsidy, he said the Centre gives subsidy of Rs 18.50 per kg of sugar to the state. "If states wants to transfer this subsidy into banks account directly, we have no issues."

Till now, the Puducherry government has been selling sugar to AAY beneficiaries at a subsidised rate through ration shops.
On demand to provide higher subsidy for foodgrain, Paswan said that this will automatically increases with rise in the minimum support price. The revised one will reflect soon.

The Puducherry government was among the first to roll out the Centres Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme in 2015.