T’puram: Minister for food and civil supplies Anoop Jacob said that if rice prices go up, 25,000 metric tonnes of rice will be supplied to the market to stabilise prices. He said a letter has been sent to the Food Corporation of India in this regard.To keep rice prices under control during Onam, 165,932 tonnes of rice and 24,506 tonnes of wheat have already been made available through the public distribution system. This quantity is sufficient to stabilise prices. The food department is prepared to bring more rice if market prices increase, he said.Reports indicate that the demand for open market sale scheme (OMSS) rice is expected to rise sharply, especially in the northern districts. Special rice will be fully supplied to all ration shops soon. As of 1pm on Aug 16, 2,000 tonnes of OMSS rice have been distributed. There has been no reduction in the quantity of rice allotted to each ration card and there has been no change in price either. Rice for the next month can also be purchased this month through SupplyCo outlets. As a result, each cardholder will be able to receive 36 kg of rice through SupplyCo, of which 20kg will be provided under the OMSS scheme, he said.Claims that the price of ration rice has been increased from Rs 10.9 to Rs 26 during Onam are false. Since Jan 2026, Centre’s tied-over allocation has led to a reduction of over 6,459 tonnes in rice availability, he said.Earlier, 33,294 tonnes of rice were being received, but now the allotment has changed to 26,835 tonnes of rice and 6,459 tonnes of wheat based on a request made by the previous LDF govt. Despite limited stocks, the state govt has introduced additional OMSS rice into the market to ensure relief for the public during Onam.
