Preference for polished pulses delaying Centre's free scheme roll-out

In total, in three months, starting from April, around 590,000 tonnes of pulses will have to be distributed for free to over 195 million families under the Garib Kalyan Yojana package

The government’s decision to distribute one kilogram of free pulses of the variety preferred by states instead of the vareity abundantly available in its stock seems to be delaying the PM’s Garib Kalyan Yojana’s national roll-out.

Sources said of the 2-2.1 million tonnes of pulses with the government, under the custody of Nafed, 1.6-1.7 million tonnes, or almost 80 per cent, is whole chana, which can be consumed in the same form. The remaining is arhar, masoor, and moong. Sources say states want the pulses in their polished ready-to-use form, instead of raw.
 

As most pulses processing units (dal mills)