Karnataka food minister Muniyappa demands supply of cooking oil, pulses and other food items via PDS

New Delhi: Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa met Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi here on Thursday and demanded the distribution of additional food items like wheat, sugar, cooking oil and pulses along with rice to ration card holders in the state.

In a memorandum, the state minister claimed that a recent survey among Public Distribution System (PDS) beneficiaries revealed that 92 per cent of ration card holders expressed the need for wheat, sugar, cooking oil and dal to be distributed along with rice through ration shops.

Given this, the distribution of additional food items along with rice would be highly beneficial for ration card holders, he said.

At present there are 4.01 crore PDS beneficiaries in Karnataka under National Food Security Act, including 43,88,154 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries and 3,58,04,863 Primary Household (PHH) beneficiaries as on March 17, 2025.

The central government provides 5 kg of rice to each beneficiary. However, from June 2023, the Karnataka government started distributing NFSA food grains and is directly depositing an amount of Rs 170 in the bank account of each beneficiary through DBT.

As per the agreement with the central government, 10 kg of rice is being distributed to each beneficiary instead of cash from February 2025.