Ministers moot jaggery supply under public distribution system

District In-charge Minister K C Narayana Gowda and Cooperation Minister S T Somashekar have written a letter to Food and Civil Supplies Minister Umesh Katti, requesting him to include jaggery under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and to issue orders to the officials to distribute one kg of jaggery to the ration card holders, every month.

In a letter to Katti, the ministers have cited that there are plans to revive jaggery and its byproducts that are manufactured in large quantities in Mandya district and also to upgrade Aalemanes (jaggery manufacturing units), under Atmanirbhar Bharat Yojana. The ministers explained that jaggery producers demanded to include jaggery under PDS, to bail out sugarcane growers, in a meeting recently.

The letter pointed out that the neigbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala are distributing jaggery in place of sugar to ration card holders.