Telangana Minister for Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Minister for Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that the State Cabinet led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will convene on August 1 to deliberate on the issuance of new ration cards. A Cabinet sub-committee will be appointed to finalise the guidelines for issuing these cards, with eligibility criteria including land ownership and income sources among the factors to be considered, he added.
During a discussion in the Assembly on Tuesday, in response to questions raised by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA and former minister for Civil Supplies Gangula Kamalar, Mr. Reddy criticised the previous government for failing to issue new ration cards during their decade-long rule.
“While Telangana had 91,68,231 white ration cards when the State was formed in 2014, the number is now 89,96,000,” Mr. Reddy stated, adding that the KCR government had issued cards only on an ad-hoc basis.
Those who missed the application submission for ration cards during the Praja Palana could soon submit fresh applications, the Minister said.
Further, from the next paddy procurement season, the State government would supply fine variety rice to all white ration card holders as the government plans to procure fine variety paddy by paying a ₹500 bonus over the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
In another significant revelation, Mr. Reddy stated that 50% of the paddy stocked at rice mills by the State government under the BRS regime was missing, amounting to ₹20,000 crore worth of paddy.
Addressing criticism regarding the supply of LPG cylinders at ₹500 each under the Mahalakshmi scheme, Mr. Reddy clarified that all active LPG consumers with white ration cards would be supplied cylinders at the stated price. “Some 42.29 lakh beneficiaries are receiving LPG cylinders under the Maha Lakshmi scheme. To improve the system, we approached the Centre to allow us to pay the oil companies directly and ensure they charge only ₹500 to customers. They assured us they would consider it. Currently, we reimburse the amount within three days,” he said.
