Revanth Anna Sanna Biyyam

A meal with dignity: How fine rice is changing lives in Telangana

23-06-2025

Vallamma Lali Bai (Lalitha), works in 5-6 houses at a gated community in Shivarampally. Her workday begins at 8 a.m. But her day starts much earlier as she cooks and packs lunch for her younger son, who is studying in Intermediate first year, and her husband, who drives an auto. Her elder son is pursuing engineering in MGIT and stays in a hostel. This is the first generation in their Lambadi Thanda (community) that leads an aspirational life, despite their meagre means.  

Hers is not a random, isolated case. It finds an echo in the stories of scores of other ration card holders. “Food is the basic human need. Everyone works to earn money to eat well. Is it wrong to aspire to eat good food? We may be below the poverty line, but we are not below the dignity line. How is it our fault if we are born into poor families and cannot afford to have decent food in a dignified manner?” asks Srinivas, an auto driver and a resident of Upperpally.

Empowering poor, protecting farmers

Launching the fine rice distribution scheme in Edavalli village in Kanagal mandal of Nalgonda district, the Minister of Roads, Buildings and Cinematography Shri Komatireddy Venkat Reddy shared a similar view. “It’s a major step towards the self-respect of the poor people in Telangana. Under the leadership of Shri A. Revanth Reddy garu, our government aims to empower the poor and benefit the farmers by offering better prices if they cultivate a fine rice variety of paddy. No government has thought of benefiting two different sections of people with the same scheme and enabling them to become financially strong and live with dignity,” he said. 

Mohd Aziz, a raddiwala (scrap dealer) in Kothapet, shares how the scheme is economically viable for him. “We live in a big joint family, and feeding 12 mouths isn’t an easy task when only 1 or 2 people in the family work – especially when five of us are not even included in the ration card. We made many rounds of the Civil Supplies office with applications, but nothing happened. After the Congress government came to power and introduced Praja Palana, we reapplied for inclusion of names in ration cards. They are being processed now, I’m told. And with the distribution of fine rice free of cost to all eligible people, if our applications get processed, it won’t be hand-to-mouth for my family anymore,” he says. 

‘Even the poor will eat rice that rich people eat’

And these are the very people that the Telangana Congress government is catering to, with their welfare being considered paramount. While kick-starting the distribution of fine rice on March 30, on the auspicious Ugadi (Telugu new year) day at Huzurnagar constituency, Honourable Chief Minister Shri A. Revanth Reddy reiterated his promise of staying by and working for the Telangana people and insisted that “even the poor will eat rice that rich people eat from now”. “We have created history by launching this scheme, and more than three crore people will now receive fine rice through the public distribution system via ration shops,” he said. 

Lauding the initiatives of visionary leaders earlier, the Chief Minister shared how the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru introduced ration shops in 1957, and how Sonia Gandhi rooted for National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 2013 and ensured it became a reality under the UPA government.  

The ruling party has proved time and again that they would stop at nothing to ensure the interests of people, particularly farmers, are protected. The government made no bones about its support for agriculture and is paying Rs 500 bonus per quintal (apart from the MSP of Rs. 2,350 per quintal to procure Grade A grains. “Unlike BRS, we are rewarding farmers. We paid Rs 1,199 crore in bonuses to 4.41 lakh farmers during the latest procurement,” said Shri A. Revanth Reddy. The State produces around 12 lakh tonnes of fine paddy with Nalgonda contributing two-thirds of the produce.   

Enormous response: Beneficiaries queue up at FPS

The distribution of fine rice, which started on April 1 is receiving a huge positive response with beneficiaries queuing up at the ration shops/ fair price shops (FPS) to claim their share. Earlier, around 58%-60% of the beneficiaries used to get rice from ration shops through PDS scheme, but observing the response for this month’s distribution, in the past 5-6 days, there’s every likelihood of it reaching the 100% milestone as beneficiaries are coming forward to utilise the initiative. It’s also worth noting that, so far, the April quota has reached its half-way mark, and the government may have to procure more fine rice to complete the distribution, which is likely to be done by April 15. 

“The coarse rice distributed earlier by the BRS government was rejected by the beneficiaries, leading to gross misuse. People were selling the rice procured from ration shops to the millers at Rs 10, who, in turn, recycled it and sold it for Rs 50. This black market was worth nearly Rs 10,000 crore annually. By offering fine rice, we are ensuring that the intended beneficiaries actually consume the grain and are not forced to sell it,” said Honourable Chief Minister Shri A. Revanth Reddy.  

During the latest season, the Telangana Congress government procured around 24 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, the highest ever in the State’s history. At present, the government spend on rice distribution is Rs 10,665 crore. With new beneficiaries added to the existing pool, the cost will increase to Rs 13,523 crore adding Rs 2,858 crore to the State’s burden, but the Honourable Chief Minister assured people that the government is prepared to bear the additional cost keeping in mind the welfare of people. 

After coming to power, the Congress government added 20 lakh people to the PDS scheme via new ration cards, with a total of 90 lakh ration cards, and 2.85 crore people, being served currently. Once the pending applications are cleared, which will be done soon, another 10 lakh ration cards will be pushed into the system, benefitting 3.10 crore beneficiaries in the process. In contrast, under the 10-year BRS rule, not even 50,000 ration cards were issued. 

Why is the fine rice scheme beneficial and successful? 

Distributing 6 kgs per person per month, free of cost, would bring about 85% of Telangana’s population under the PDS scheme. The other, most important, reason is that people have the freedom to collect the fine rice from any of the FPS irrespective of where their card was issued. This is not only beneficial for the locals but is also immensely useful for migrant workers and mobile populations. 

The third reason is that the individuals who are listed in the beneficiary database but do not have the physical ration cards are still entitled to receive fine rice, starting April 1. Currently, the government issues two colour-coded ration cards to beneficiaries – Tricolour cards for people below poverty line (BPL) and green cards for above poverty line (APL) households. 

Backed by its immense rewards to beneficiaries across the sections of the society and the success of the scheme among the people, the Honourable Chief Minister declares: “The fine rice distribution scheme is here to stay. No future government will dare to stop the scheme. It will continue permanently, regardless of political changes.” 

A game changer in food security landscape

Speaking during the rice distribution at Suryapet municipality’s Kudakuda, Irrigation and CAD Minister of Telangana, Shri Uttam Kumar Reddy said, “Switching to fine rice is a game changer in India’s food security landscape.” 

In order to make the people aware of the distribution of fine rice, the Congress bigwigs in the State, including Honourable Chief Minister Shri A. Revanth Reddy, Irrigation Minister Shri Uttam Kumar Reddy, Minister of Information and Public Relations Shri Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Cinematography Minister Shri Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, MLAs, Youth Congress leaders, Collectors and bureaucrats are sharing a meal with the beneficiaries at their home or by eating with the community at primary schools and community halls. 

Good governance is all about people-centric approach

Rice and its procurement were never an issue; agriculture is. Former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao was not keen on giving farmers even the MSP, so they weren’t interested in cultivating good varieties of rice. Despite Kaleshwaram, BRS never invested or was interested in benefiting anyone other than themselves. 

When the BRS government distributed rice, it was so bad that nobody could eat it. Is this Bangaru Telangana? While BRS worked only for its family or its village, and their schemes were just that – “schemes” – and were limited to benefitting their near and dear ones, Honourable CM Shri A. Revanth Reddy’s government has their eyes set on the welfare of the entire population of Telangana.  

Rallying around the Honourable Chief Minister, the senior Congress leadership express their joy over the fine rice distribution and say, in unison: “BRS should realise at least now that vyavasayam pandaga, dandaga kaadu (Agriculture/ Irrigation/ Cultivation is a fest, not a waste). We achieved record production thanks to the efforts of our visionary Chief Minister who solved the ration problem of both the beneficiaries and the farmers.”

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