Govt to raise grain allocation for PDS

As mounting grain stocks revive the possibility of tonnes of wheat and rice rotting, the government is plan to pump in an additional 14 million tonnes of foodgrain into the Public Distribution System (PDS) to wean off its excess inventories this year.

Officials in the food ministry said they had mooted a proposal to allocate an additional eight million tonnes of grains into the PDS during the current financial year over and above the already sanctioned six million tonnes of extra allocation. These grains are in addition to the normal annual allocation of 56 million tonnes of grains for distribution through ration shops.