Thiruvananthapuram, 11 August (H.S.):

The Kerala Food and Civil Supplies Department has dismissed as false reports claiming that the price of ration rice has been increased from Rs 10.90 to Rs 26 per kg during the Onam season.

The department clarified that neither the regular quantity of ration rice supplied to each cardholder nor its existing price has been changed. It said the Rs 26 rate applies only to additional rice being made available to certain categories of ration cardholders over and above their normal monthly entitlement.

According to the department, Kerala has witnessed a reduction of more than 6,459 metric tonnes in the rice supplied by the Centre under the tide-over allocation since January 2026.

The State, which earlier received 33,294 metric tonnes of rice under the allocation, is now being supplied 26,835 metric tonnes of rice along with 6,459 metric tonnes of wheat. The department said the change was introduced by the Centre following repeated requests made by the previous State government.

Special rice distributed during festival seasons was traditionally sourced from the tide-over allocation. However, in December 2025, the previous government opted to reduce the rice component and obtain an equivalent quantity of wheat instead. This subsequently limited the quantity of rice available for special distribution during the Onam season, the department said.

To compensate for the shortfall and ensure additional supplies during the festival period, the government has arranged extra rice for blue, white and brown ration cardholders at Rs 26 per kg, without affecting their regular ration entitlement.

For this purpose, the State purchased rice through the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) at a higher procurement price of Rs 23.20 per kg.

The Food Department maintained that the measure was intended to provide additional rice to families during Onam despite limited stocks. It reiterated that there has been no increase in the price of regular ration rice or any reduction in the normal quantity supplied to cardholders.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman