Karnataka's State Chief Siddaramaiah said on Thursday that instead of 5kg of free rice, beneficiaries would be given cash at the rate of INR 34 (41 cents) per kg under the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme.
The newly elected Congress government decided to distribute cash instead of rice as it is facing difficulties in procuring large quantities of rice.
While speaking to reporters at Vidhan Soudha (Karnataka's legislature building), State Chief Siddaramaiah said that INR 170 ($2.07) instead of 5kg of rice (INR 34 per kg) would be credited to the account of the beneficiaries through the Direct Beneficiary Transfer (DBT) until the state government was able to procure rice.
“As soon as the state is able to procure the rice, rice will be distributed to Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya cardholders instead of money,” he added.
He said that the decision was taken in the cabinet with the intention of not backtracking from the guarantee given by the government to the people of the state.
“I met Federal Home Minister Amit Shah and State Food Ministers and asked them to supply rice. The National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF), the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), and the Kendriya Bhandara, these three organisations have increased the price prescribed for the supply of rice. NCCF suggested INR 32.94 per kg and we asked for INR 32.24 per kg. Tenders are being called transparently to buy rice in the open market,” he stated.
He, however, has promised that rice will be provided to the beneficiaries from 1 July and the state needs 229,000 metric tons of rice every month to meet the required demand.
Earlier on Sunday 25 June, Congress alleged that the federal government is “sabotaging” its Anna Bhagya guarantee in Karnataka.
Notably, on 14 June, the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which initially agreed to supply the requisite quantity of rice, reversed its decision citing the need to maintain sufficient stocks for market intervention.
The Congress said that the FCI had reversed its decision at the behest of the federal government.