After Free Bus Rides, Congress Government In Karnataka Struggles With Free Rice Programme

The Congress-led government in Karnataka is currently encountering difficulties in procuring 2.29 lakh metric tonnes of rice to implement a monthly scheme providing 5 kg of free rice to the impoverished population starting from 1 July.

The state's food ministry has been informed by the central government's food ministry that rice supplies from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are not available, leading the Karnataka government to seek assistance from central agencies.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, blaming the central government for deliberately obstructing access to affordable rice supplies, revealed that the state has initiated discussions and negotiations with central agencies like the National Consumers Co-operative Federation (NCCF), Kendriya Bandar, and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) to secure rice supplies for a one-year period.

Despite attempts to procure rice from Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, the required quantity has not been made available, and the states that can provide some supply are offering rice at high prices.

Siddaramaiah stated that Karnataka requires 2.29 lakh metric tonnes of rice for the Anna Bhagya scheme, but no state has the necessary quantity. As an alternative, the state is considering supplying 2 kg of ragi and jowar as substitutes for a portion of the 5 kg rice scheme, if the required rice supplies cannot be obtained.

The Chief Minister accused the central government of deliberately blocking rice supplies and suggested that this decision was politically motivated to hinder the Karnataka free rice scheme.

He expressed the state government's willingness to pay for the rice supplies and criticised the central government for auctioning rice to private parties instead of providing it to the states.

In response to the Congress government's delay in implementing promised initiatives, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has threatened to stage protests if the five guarantees made by the Congress ahead of the 2023 elections are not fulfilled by 4 July.

Although the Karnataka government requested rice for Below Poverty Line (BPL) cardholders, the central government rejected the request.

Despite rice availability in the central pool, the central government cited inflationary pressures as the reason for discontinuing the sale of rice to state governments under the open-market sale scheme (OMSS).

This discontinuation has posed challenges for the state government in providing additional rice to BPL families as per their scheme.

The state government is responsible for supplying rice to over 1.19 crore BPL cardholders and 4.42 crore beneficiaries under the free rice scheme. In addition to the 5 kg of rice provided by the central government, the state aims to offer an additional 5 kg of free rice to each member of a BPL family.

Overall, the Karnataka government is actively exploring alternative options through central agencies to secure the necessary rice supplies for its free rice scheme, since FCI supplies have been ruled out.

The state is facing challenges in meeting the 1 July launch deadline but remains determined to initiate the scheme regardless.