To check prices, govt to raise PDS wheat, rice allocation by 10 kg

The government on Thursday raised allocation of wheat and rice for all ration cardholders to soften the impact of rising prices that will be discussed by chief ministers on February 6. HT Correspondent reports.

The government on Thursday raised allocation of wheat and rice for all ration cardholders to soften the impact of rising prices that will be discussed by chief ministers on February 6.

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The chief ministers’ meeting — earlier scheduled for January 27 — will discuss the twin challenges of curbing rising prices of essential commodities and tackling internal security.

Ahead of the conference, the Cabinet Committee on Prices (CCP) decided to make an ad-hoc allocation of 10 kg per family per month over and above the existing allocation of foodgrains for two months — January and February — to cover all accepted cardholders.

It will be available to accepted numbers of cardholders under Antyodaya Anna Yojana, below poverty line and above poverty line category. The total additional allocation for the country will be 10.64 lakh tonnes of rice and 25.43 lakh tonnes
of wheat.

At the CCP meeting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly indicated that he had taken on the BJP delegation that wanted the government to “give up do-nothing approach” on rising prices.