Calcutta: The failure of the Bengal government to recover adequate milled rice from rice mills after procuring paddy from farmers in the Kharif (monsoon) season could leave an impact on the state-run cheap grain scheme ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
A report sent to the districts by the food and supplies department revealed that the state could recover only 20.58 lakh tonnes of milled rice out of 35.10 lakh tonnes that the government was supposed to get till date.
Sources said this was a cause of concern for the ruling dispensation since it could hurt the effort to run the cheap grain scheme smoothly ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
“If the supply of rice is hit, it would leave an impact on the cheap grain scheme run by the state. Nearly two crore people, who are out of the coverage of the Centre’s National Food Security Act (NFSA) depend on the state’s own Khadya Sathi scheme,” said a source.
The state food and supplies department sends paddy to rice mills after procuring the produce from farmers. Rice mills send back rice after milling the paddy. The mills get a milling charge for converting paddy into rice. Usually, nearly 65 per cent of the weight of paddy is converted into rice.
According to sources, around 50 lakh tonnes of paddy was sent to the mills since the start of procurement following the harvest of Kharif crops in December last year. The state was supposed to get back 35.10 lakh tonnes of rice from the mills, but got only 20.58 lakh tonnes, a mere 40 per cent of the 50 lakh tonnes.
With the existing stock, the state can run its crucial cheap grain scheme for around six months till June as it requires some 3 lakh tonnes of rice every month to run it.
If the supply is delayed further, the state could face trouble from July this year.
“In that case, the state would have to write to the Centre seeking the supply of cheap grain from the central pool. But it depends solely on the Centre whether the state’s rice requirement would be met. Given the (fraught) relationship the state shares with the Centre, there is no guarantee that the Union government would help out the state by supplying rice in case of a shortfall,” said a bureaucrat.
Last year, the state had to ask the Centre twice to supply rice from the central pool because of a shortage.
“At that time, the Centre ensured the supply of rice to the state pool. But this year, it's not certain,” said a source.
Considering the importance of the supply of rice from the mills, the state government has asked the districts to stress recovering the pending supply of rice from the mills by June-end.
“Several districts, including South 24-Parganas, Murshidabad, South Dinajpur, East Burdwan, North Dinajpur, Purulia, Malda and Hooghly, were yet to receive a large quantity of milled rice from the mills. They have been asked to ensure that the mills supply due rice at the earliest,” said a source.
“Ideally, the state should have received the entire stock of rice milled from Kharif crop before the harvest of Boro crop, which usually starts in early May,” said a bureaucrat.
The official added that the annual consumption of rice in the state was around 110 lakh tonnes. The bureaucrat said that Bengal was self-reliant in terms of paddy production, with rice being the staple food of Bengalis.
Another section of the officials pointed out that if the mills did not supply the due rice within a couple of weeks, it could hurt the entire paddy supply chain in the coming months.
“If the supply gap remains wide now, it would be difficult for the authorities to send rice to the mills after procuring Boro crops from the farmers. This would hurt the entire chain, leaving the small and marginal farmers in a spot as they depend on the government’s minimum support price (MSP) for their produce,” said an official.