Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that around 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice was available with Chhattisgarh which Karnataka could buy for its Anna Bhagya scheme, but the transportation cost would be high.
The Chief Minister told reporters here that he had spoken to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, but there was no rice available in that State. Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma would be talking to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy to find out about availability of rice in that State, he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah has decided to hold one more meeting to decide on the purchase of rice from other States and implementation of the scheme.
State vs. Centre
With the Food Corporation of India (FCI) declining to sell additional rice to Karnataka to start the Anna Bhagya scheme of the Congress government — providing 10 kg of free rice per person per month to BPL families and Antyodaya card holders — the State is on the lookout for other sources for procurement. The government has said that the FCI had earlier promised to supply rice, but later declined.
The Chief Minister said that the Centre has been “playing politics” with the free rice distribution scheme, fearing its popularity, and described it as an attempt to “scuttle” the scheme. Meanwhile, the FCI has justified its decision not to sell rice to the State arguing that the decision was not “deliberate” and was only part of its effort at controlling retail inflation in foodgrains.
Presently, the State government is providing 5 kg of rice supplied by the Centre. Under the new scheme, 2.28 lakh tonnes of rice is required per month to provide 10 kg of rice per head to eligible people.
BJP’s charge
Responding to BJP MLA B.Y. Vijayendra’s charge that despite the availability of rice in Karnataka the Congress government was purchasing it from other States for commission, Mr. Siddaramaiah shot back, “Let them help the government procure rice if it is available in the State.” The BJP has said that it would launch an agitation if the free rice scheme was not implemented from July 1 as promised.
