Hyderabad, Aug 8 (IANS): The Telangana government has decided to increase the commission of ration dealers in the state from Rs 900 to Rs 1,400 per tonne.

The announcement was made after Finance Minister T. Harish Rao and Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar held talks with the representatives of the Telangana Ration Dealers Association here on Tuesday.

The government’s decision will benefit 17,227 ration dealers across the state and will cost an additional Rs 139 crore to the state exchequer annually.

The ministers said after the meeting that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is ensuring welfare of everyone and he directed them to address the problems faced by ration dealers. They recalled that when Telangana was formed, the commission of rational dealers was only Rs 200 per tonne and in a short span, it has been enhanced to Rs 1,400 per tonne.

They claimed that Telangana is the only state in the country to increase the commission by 700 per cent. The ministers also pointed out that no other state in the country is supplying rice above the Centre’s quota.

To make sure that no one goes hungry, the Telangana government is supplying six kilogram rice to every person per month at one rupee per kg. In addition to this, the state government is also providing rice under the Centre’s quota.

Every month, 91 lakh people are being supplied the rice through Public Distribution System in the state.

The state government has also accepted 13 other demands of the rational dealers. For the families of 100 dealers, who had died during Covid-19, the government has sanctioned dealerships on grounds of compassion. The government has also agreed to provide Rs 5 lakh life insurance each for ration dealers on the lines of the schemes being implemented for farmers and weavers.

The ration dealers will also be brought under the purview of Arogyasri, a health insurance scheme.