Mangalore : Below poverty line ration card holders in Dakshina Kannada district will have the option of getting parboiled rice and raw rice from select ration shops from August on-wards. 

This decision comes in the view of the demand by some card holders, who wanted only parboiled rice.

Also, several consumers had expressed their dislike for the parboiled rice supplied in ration shops, which was different from the local variety they use at home.

The local parboiled rice remains good throughout the day after cooking in the morning, while the parboiled rice provided at the ration shops — which was being supplied from Andhra Pradesh — stays fresh only till noon.

A request was made to the State government to provide parboiled rice and raw rice through ration shops.

Deputy Director of Food and Civil Supplies, C.S. Sharanabasappa, said the State government had allotted both parboiled rice and raw rice for August.

Of the 2,400 tonnes of rice allotted for the region, 1,200 tonnes was raw rice while the remaining was parboiled rice.

Mr. Sharanabasappa said raw rice and parboiled rice would be allocated to select ration shops located in areas where there had been greater demand for both the varieties of rice, he said.