Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy announced that his government will ensure the success of the Fine Rice Scheme despite facing many challenges. He said this would be one of the most impactful welfare programs in the state’s history.
Speaking at a public meeting in Huzurnagar, the constituency of Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, the Chief Minister said that even the poorest families would now get access to high-quality rice because of better economic conditions.
Revanth Reddy explained that the regular rice given through the Public Distribution System (PDS) was of poor quality and not suitable for consumption. Many people ended up selling it to rice millers for just Rs 10 per kg. These millers then sold it back to the government, causing a huge loss of Rs 10,000 crore every year.
To stop this cycle and eliminate the role of middlemen and corrupt practices, the government decided to replace coarse rice with fine rice in the PDS. “Now, with six kilograms of fine rice, the poor can celebrate festivals throughout the year,” he said, receiving loud cheers from the crowd.
The Chief Minister also criticized the Kaleshwaram Project, which was described earlier as the “eighth wonder of the world.” He pointed out that the project, built at a cost of Rs 1 lakh crore, collapsed within three years, calling it a major failure.
He said that the people of Telangana would not feel bad if those responsible for this failure were punished. He blamed the previous BRS government for delays in the SLBC project and said it could have been completed within 10 years if the work had moved even one kilometer per year.
Revanth Reddy also took a jab at former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, sarcastically calling him a man who had read “80,000 books.” He accused him of discouraging farmers from growing fine rice while selling rice from his own farm at a very high price. “Was your rice grown on fields of gold?” he asked.
He concluded by highlighting the importance of the Nalgonda district in paddy production and expressed confidence that Telangana would see a record harvest in the upcoming Yasangi season.
