Ex-minister Deshmukh slams govt over maize distribution at

Former Maharashtra Food Minister Anil Deshmukh today slammed the BJP-led state government over its move to distribute dry maize to ration-card holders by reducing the wheat quota.
He said the common people are inconvenienced due to the distribution as maize is not staple food for them.
The minister demanded that the distribution be stopped immediately and appealed to the government to restore the monthly 15-kg wheat quota the ration card holders have been entitled to.
The government last month started distributing the dry maize through ration shops following bumper production of the cereal grain.
The government had purchased the maize from producers at Minimum Support Price (MSP) after the rates of the crop in the open market came down due to glut.

However, the NCP leader said distribution of maize through Public Distribution System (PDS) was "unprecedented" in the state.

"Dry maize is generally used as animal fodder and not as a staple food. It is distributed in ration shops in at least 11 districts," he said.
While distributing maize, the government has cut down the monthly 15-kg wheat quota by 10 kgs and replaced it with the cereal grain, he said.
"There is a lot of anger among the common people in villages as they do not know what to do with the dry maize and feeding it to their cattle. Villagers told me that even flour mill operators are refusing to grind the dry maize," said the former minister.

Deshmukh said the maize is distributed through PDS in Amravati, Pune, Nagpur, Akola, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Solapur, Sangli, Satara, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, Dhule and Nashik districts.