Courtesy The Hindu

40,000 tonnes of rice and other essential commodities to be shipped to Sri Lanka, says Sakkarapani

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R. Sakkarapani on Saturday warned of legal action against those who disseminate misleading information on social media about the initiatives to ship essential commodities such as rice to Sri Lanka.

According to a press release, the State government will ship 40,000 tonnes of rice and other essential commodities to Sri lanka. Fifty-one rice mills have been identified for packing and supplying the rice in 10 kg bags. Good quality rice varieties that have been exported to Sri Lanka have been procured by the State government at ₹33.50 a kg, which includes transport cost to ports such as Thoothukudi and Chennai. However, a few individuals have shared misleading information on social media, claiming that the rice should have been procured at ₹20 from the Food Corporation of India.

Pointing to the challenges in sending rice meant for the public distribution system from the Food Corporation of India to other countries, the Minister said the social media posts comparing the rice procured by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation with the product in the public distribution system was misleading.