Till date, for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Government of India has issued out 16,50,000 Metric Tonnes of food grains (15,78,000 MT Rice and 72830 MT Wheat) under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (Prime Minister's Food Security Scheme for the Poor) in addition to their normal monthly allocation of ration food grains issued under the NFSA (National Food Security Act), said Shri R D Nazeem, Executive Director, South Zone, Food Corporation of India.

Shri Nazeem and Shri J S Syju, GM (Tamil Nadu), Food Corporation of India addressed the media at the Press Information Bureau Chennai office today, with respect to the distribution of additional food grains free of cost under Public Distribution System (PDS) through PMGKAY.

"The Government of India has started this scheme from April 2020 onwards which is now extended till November 2021. In the state of TN, around 3.57 crore beneficiaries are covered under NFSA and are provided with addition 5 kg of rice/wheat (per head) free of cost. Under this scheme, in the state of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, additional  quantity of rice from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and wheat from Punjab were moved during the year 2020-21. The cost of food grains moved for free issue under centrally sponsored scheme cost around Rs 7588 crore which was borne by the exchequer," Shri Nazeem said.

Stating that the Government is committed to mitigate the hardships of the poor during the pandemic period, he added: In the state of Tamil Nadu, universal Free PDS (Public Distribution System) is practiced. Under this scheme everyone is entitled to subsidised food and no exclusion is based on the income criteria. Hence in order to cover beneficiaries who are not covered under NFSA, additional food grains are required for the state to feed those beneficiaries who are not covered under NFSA.

He said that in order to meet the additional requirement of the state to ensure universal PDS, FCI has provided 10,09,000 Metric Tonnes of food grains costing about Rs 3354 crore at a highly subsidised rate.

He also said that in addition to this, various Non-Governmental Organizations and social welfare organizations have played their part in helping the poor and needy during the lockdown were involved in relief operations in pandemic period, FCI had given food grains to them at a highly subsidized rate. 40,800 Quintals in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were provided to these organizations who were involved in relief operations in the lockdown period.

"The Government of India fully understands that each state needs to hold its buffer requirement of food grains. In Tamil Nadu, FCI was holding 13,70,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) of storage (buffer) space. However, after understanding the need of augmenting the capacities, FCI and its sister concerns such as CWC and SWC have come forward for enhancing the capacity from 13,70,000 MT to 17,06,000 Metric Tonnes," the Executive Director, South Zone, Food Corporation of India, said.

Therefore Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have enough storage for saving its food grains.

In addition to local procurement of paddy is being encouraged to be carried out through the state government agencies, he added.

Giving more details, he said, "Extensive and detailed logistical planning has already been done by Food Corporation of India (FCI) to ensure that food grain stocks reach every part of the state as per the allocation over these 2 months. FCI Tamil Nadu is holding around 17,06,000 Metric Tonnes of Food Grains in its Godowns, In addition to this, the State Government has already procured around 36.25 lakh MTs of paddy which would result in delivery of 24,16,000 Metric Tonnes of Rice, in order to cater the needs of beneficiaries of Tamil Nadu."

Pointing out this as a huge challenge as it is double the normal allocation and the existing warehousing capacities and transportation systems are based on the regular allocations, he stated, "However, FCI Tamil Nadu is fully geared up for the challenge and its ability to deliver in the most challenging circumstances has already been demonstrated during the lockdown period when new records were set in terms of logistical operations."

Food Corporation of India, Tamil Nadu has also made arrangements to move in 7,59,000 MTs of Food Grains through train loads from rice procuring states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha and wheat procuring states such as Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in order to meet the additional requirements of PMGKAY allocation.

Shri Nazeem concluded by saying that it will be ensured that Food Grains reach every corner of the State as per allocations and the stated objective of the Government that no poor person will have to remain hungry for want of food will be achieved.

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(Release ID: 1732900)