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Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi announced that State governments can directly purchase rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) from Thursday without participating in e-auction.
The decision was taken to reduce the huge surplus stocks ahead of the procurement after this kharif season.
If the States wanted to procure more rice over the stipulated 5 kg of free grain per individual under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), they could procure it for ₹2,800 per quintal , instead of the earlier rate of ₹2,900 per quintal.
The Centre will directly offload rice to the States under the scheme
The Centre would continue to provide free foodgrains to about 81.35 crore beneficiaries for a period of five years with effect from January 1, 2024; outlay of ₹11.8 lakh crore
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