The categorical refusal of the Centre on June 23 to sell rice to Karnataka for Anna Bhagya scheme could not only result in delay of its launch, slated for July 1, but also alter the government’s calculation of its cost.
Government sources said that it would take another week for the Central agencies (such a NAFED, NCCF and Kendriya Bandar) whom the State Government has approached for supply of rice to get back with their quotes. “We have asked them to speak to traders and get back to us with a detailed quote. They will finalise the rate and revert to us before the end of next week,” said the source.
The additional rice of five kgs is expected to help 4.42 crore beneficiaries (1.19 crore BPL and Antyodaya cards) in the State.
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The meeting between Food and Civil Supplies Minister K. H. Muniyappa and Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on June 22, that took place after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention, had raised hopes of rice supply. Earlier, a war of words had broken out between the Congress and BJP over denial of rice by the Food Corporation of India for the scheme.
On its own again
However, following Centre’s refusal, a source said, “Now we are on our own. We will try to procure rice from other sources.”
The State government, sources said, was also speaking with Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab for supply of rice, but nothing has been finalised so far. “We are trying from every possible sources. We will definitely launch the scheme, but there could be a delay by a few weeks.” The State government is likely to take the decision to delay the launch over the next few days.
When asked what was the price band that the government was looking at, sources said, “We are hopeful of getting rice around the same price of the FCI, and our attempts are in that direction.”
The FCI supplies rice at ₹ 36.60 per kg, including transportation cost of ₹ 2.60, and the biggest challenge for the Congress government is to get rice from any other source at the same price or around it.
What memorandum said
A memorandum submitted by Mr. Muniyappa on Friday said that the State has been using the OMSS (D) scheme to procure one kg of rice per person for the last seven months. In order to supply five kgs rice, Karnataka requires 2.29 lakh metric tonnes under the OMSS (without e-auction). Urging the Centre to re start the OMSS ( D) scheme, it said, “The sudden discontinuation of OMSS (D) unexpectedly took away the possibility of getting rice from from FCI and made it difficult for the launch of the programme. With kharif season coming to end in most of the country, our efforts to procure rice from other states or from open market has become challenging.”
