Anna Bhagya: Additional 5 Kg Free Rice Rollout Faces Challenges After Telangana Says No, High Cost Of Transportation From Chhattisgarh

In a setback to Karnataka government's plans of operationalising the Anna Bhagya scheme, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has rejected Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's request to supply rice citing insufficient stock.

In a setback to the Karnataka government's plans of operationalising the Anna Bhagya scheme by July 1, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has rejected Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's request to supply rice citing insufficient stock.

The high transportation cost involved in sourcing from Chhattisgarh has also emerged as another challenge for the rolling out of the '5 kg free rice' scheme promised Congress government in Karnataka

CM Siddaramaiah told the media on Saturday (June 17) that while 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice was available in Chhattisgarh, the transportation cost was too high.

Siddaramaiah said that he had also placed a request with his Telangana counterpart Chandrashekar Rao, but he later expressed his inability to supply.

"He said they don't have rice," Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah said that he had directed Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma to contact Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy to ascertain the possibility of sourcing from the state.

Siddaramaiah added that he would conduct another meeting with the officials to decide on the purchase of rice from other States and the scheme's implementation. The state government is reportedly planning to approach Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh for the supply of rice.

If Karnataka procures rice from other States, it has to spend a minimum of Rs 2.60 per kg on transportation, and the cost could go up further in case it sources from states like Chhattisgarh. The cost of implementing the scheme could go up as the state may have to purchase rice from the open market.

According to Food and Civil Supplies department estimates, Karnataka requires up to 4.45 lakh metric tonnes to distribute 10 kg of rice per person to all Priority Households (PHH).

Presently, the State government is providing 5 kg of rice supplied by the Centre. To operationalise the election promise of '10 kg of free rice per month per household', the Congress government needs to procure additional 2.28 lakh tonnes of rice from its resources.

Last week, Siddaramaiah alleged that the Centre is conspiring to deprive the state government of its requisite share of rice to be provided under the Anna Bhagya scheme. He even claimed that the Food Corporation Of India (FCI) had earlier promised to supply rice under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) without e-auction at the rate of ₹34 a kg but later declined.