Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (DV)

Mangaluru, May 18: District in-charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary on Tuesday May 18 said that the district administration is likely to provide boiled rice (red) under the Public Distribution System (PDC) in Dakshina Kannada. But, it may require 2 to 3 months’ time to complete the process.

He was speaking to Daijiworld over the phone after chairing the meeting held with officials of district administration, MLAs, and Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Corporation vice president Kiran Kumar Kodgi at the DC’s office.

Kota Srinivas Poojary (file photo)

He said, "Most of the people in the district do not prefer the white rice given under PDS. We gathered information that some people have refrained from procuring rice from the fair price shops. There were also instances where rice was being sold to others for a cheaper price. Hence, as there is demand from the public for boiled rice (Kuchalakki) in Dakshina Kannada, along with five MLAs and Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Corporation vice president Kiran Kumar Kodgi, and officials of food and agriculture department, a meeting has been organised to draw an outline to provide boiled rice to the public.

"For Dakshina Kannada district, we need 10 lac quintal boiled rice every year. To meet this demand, 17 lac quintal paddy should be grown. But, in Dakshina Kannada, only 2 lac quintal is grown. Hence, we are planning to purchase paddy from Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Ramanagara, Belagavi, and Shivamogga districts or to provide a supportive price. We have also invited 8 rice mill owners for the meeting.

“Even our MLAs also have expressed their consent for the same. We are confident that we will implement this within 2 to 3 months. We will also take approval from the union government to purchase red rice and to provide subsidies while purchasing the same. Totally, we are working on a plan to provide quality boiled rice to the public.

“We have drawn guidelines as per 80:20 ratio, which means that 8 kg boiled rice and 2 kg white rice will be distributed. Both for Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. The union government has not accredited to give subsidy for various varieties of red boiled rice. Hence, we will send various varieties of boiled rice to the union government and obtain accreditation from the government which will help us to purchase and process the boiled rice. This process may require three months. In this regard, we have held a meeting and even to materialize this programme, still, we may conduct a few more meetings,” he said.