New Delhi, 02 July (H.S.): More than 800 million beneficiaries covered under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and other welfare schemes will receive better-quality rice following the Central Government's decision to upgrade procurement and distribution standards.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved enhanced quality specifications for rice supplied under PMGKAY and other welfare schemes.

Under the revised norms, raw rice supplied through PMGKAY will contain a maximum of 10 per cent broken grains, replacing the earlier permissible limit of up to 25 per cent. Similarly, parboiled rice will be allowed to contain a maximum of 5 per cent broken grains, replacing the earlier limit of up to 16 per cent.

The ministry said the revised standards will improve food quality, enhance operational efficiency, strengthen transparency and generate annual savings of approximately Rs 2,161 crore.

Procurement of rice under the new quality standards will begin with immediate effect and will be implemented in a phased manner across all procuring states by the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2027-28.

According to the ministry, the revised specifications have already been successfully tested through pilot projects in several states, including Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, Telangana and Chhattisgarh.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said this marks the first reduction in the permissible limit of broken rice grains in nearly three decades. Under the revised norms, raw rice will contain no more than 10 per cent broken grains, while the limit for parboiled rice has been fixed at 5 per cent.

The ministry said the move will ensure that more than 800 million PMGKAY beneficiaries receive higher-quality rice. The separated broken rice will be utilised for productive and industrial purposes. To strengthen transparency in the Public Distribution System (PDS), QR code-based traceability will also be introduced on rice bags.

The ministry added that the distribution of better-quality rice under PMGKAY and other welfare schemes will be rolled out in phases to ensure a smooth transition to the revised specifications across all states. As part of the reform, QR code tags on rice bags will enable end-to-end traceability throughout the supply chain.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar