Ration racket: Tamil Nadu's ration rice turns into fancy, branded goods in Kerala

Is Tamil Nadu's rice so good that neighbouring states simply must have it? This is apparently the case, at least if one goes by the statistics of smuggling between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. 

In the latest example, the Kozhinjampara police, from Palakkad in Kerala, recently seized a whopping twenty-six tonnes of rice. 

The cops say this rice was smuggled from areas like Pollachi and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, further proof of the rampant smuggling of ration goods between states. 

“On June 12, we seized at least 20 tonnes of ration rice stored in two shops at the Walayar dam site,” Palakkad District Supplies Officer VK Shashidharan told New Indian Express.

Interestingly, one of the reasons for the smuggling seems to be the quality of the rice itself. Shashidharan said the rice supplied by the Food Supplies of India is of high quality and this is why agents buy it from villagers at cheap rates.This rice is transported in trains or other modes, stored in godowns and finally sold to mills or rice merchants in Kerala.

And the rice does flow across state lines in a torrent. In May, the Kozhinjampara police seized 1,240 kgs of rice from a shed of one smuggler. A few days later, they seized 1,930 kg from the house of another smuggler on the Velanthavalam-Ozhalapathy road.

“On June 11, 2,160 kg was seized from a Tata Sumo during a vehicle inspection by the police. The consignments have been handed over to us and we have registered cases,” New Indian Express quoted Chittur Taluk Supplies Officer R Manoj as saying.

Smugglers use bullock carts to transport rice across the border. Kozhinjampara SI Sajith Kumar said, “There are also godowns in the area to store smuggled rice. It is later polished and marketed at a fancy price under various brands to consumers in Kerala. In the past two months, we have seized at least 10 tonnes from vehicles.”

It is not yet known if traders are selling rice to smugglers or if the beneficiaries are themselves selling it to them. 

In any case, BPL beneficiaries in Tamil Nadu aren’t receiving the food promised to them and those in Kerala are paying high price for rice that’s supplied by Food Supplies of India.