Tamil Nadu has been allotted about 1.78 lakh tonnes of rice additionally every month for the next three months under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana package.
Of this additional quantity, about 36,000 tonnes are earmarked for beneficiaries under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration cards and 1.42 lakh tonnes for those coming under priority household (PHH) cards, officials said.
There are about 1.11 crore ration cards coming under the two categories, of which the figure of AAY cards is about 18.6 lakhs.
Since the beginning of this month, the rice supply began from Food Corporation of India (FCI). Everyday, some quantity is being taken from the Central authorities. On Tuesday, around 16,000 tonnes of rice were drawn, according to officials of the Tamil Nadu government handling food and public distribution.
Even though the officials are awaiting the details regarding pulses from the Centre, they expect to get 20,000 tonnes a month, whose cost will be ₹ 60 crore.