Hyderabad:
Andhra Pradesh plans to implement the National Food Security (NFS) programme from September 1, after formally launching it on August 20.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy reviewed the scheme at a high-level meeting on Thursday.
The NFS entails enhancement of the rice quota from four to five kilograms per person, which was a Congress 2009 election promise, which it failed to keep.
Currently there are over 2.25 crore white cards issued to as many families covering a population of 7.5 crore. The government would have to purchase an additional 94,000 tonnes of rice from the open market to meet the distribution requirement under NFS, as the quota will increase from four kilograms to five kilograms per person.
The state currently gets 3.06 lakh tonnes of rice fromthe Centre for the Public Distribution Scheme. The AP Chief Minister has directed officials of the Civil Supplies Department to work in coordination with FoodCorporation of India's modalities, related to procurement of additional quantity of rice, for distribution under the NFS,so that farmers get remunerative prices.
