Punjab offers direct grain supply to Kerala

Chandigarh: The Punjab Government Thursday offered direct grain supply, including that of wheat and rice, to Kerala as per its specifications.

A delegation of Kerala Government led by its Food Minister Anoop Jacob had a detailed meeting here with the team from Punjab Government led by Punjab Food Minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon.

This is identify the areas where both states can work out a compatible solution to meet each other's food requirements.

Kairon gave a detailed presentation explaining the Asia's big procurement operation conducted by the state.

He said Punjab was contributing more than 210 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrain to the central kitty, feeding a population of 35 crore and meeting 44 per cent food requirement of the country.

According to a Punjab Government release here, Kairon said that Punjab can directly supply rice and wheat to the southern state as per its specific requirements.

Anoop Jacob said that Kerala would like to seek grains from Punjab in 40 kg packs. A delegation of Punjab Government would soon visit Kerala to work out modalities of the system.

Lauding the new Public Distribution System introduced by Punjab in which six months or lump sum quota is provided directly to the beneficiaries, keeping out the intermediaries, he said Kerala would like to replicate this model while implementing Food Security Act in the state.

He also praised Punjab for being a leading state in adopting Food Security Act.

Briefing the delegation, Principal Secretary Food and Supplies, G Vajralingam said that Punjab had procured 115-125 lakh metric tonne of paddy during the recent paddy procurement in all the 1800 different locations set up for this purpose.