‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme hits roadblock; Congress, BJP spar over rice supply

The Karnataka government has scheduled the launch of the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, one of the five guarantees the Congress made ahead of the elections on 1 July

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday accused Congress of misleading the people of Karnataka after chief minister Siddaramaiah-led Congress government accused the Centre of trying to scuttle its ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme by directing the Food Corporation of India (FCI) not to sell rice to the state.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah (right) and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai (left) (File Photo)

“The government should have acted early. They held a series of meetings, if they wanted, they could have called short-term tenders during the first cabinet meeting and fulfilled the needs. The Congress does not have the political will to fulfil the promises they made and hence it is blaming the Centre,” former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday.

He said that the FCI has no authority to provide rice, it only stocks food grains. Siddaramaiah has no plans to implement this scheme, he is only doing politics, he added.

“If Siddaramaiah wanted to implement the scheme, he could have written to the food and civil supplies minister and sought relaxation at least for a few months, but they didn’t do it. I demand the government buy rice from the open market and give it to the poor on July 1. Or send money to beneficiaries’ account,” said Bommai.

The Karnataka government has scheduled the launch of the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, one of the five guarantees the Congress made ahead of the elections on 1 July.

The scheme promises 10 kg of free food grains to those Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya card holders. However, even before the launch of the scheme, it has faced a setback as the FCI has written to the state over its inability to supply additional rice.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday, alleged that the Centre is trying to block its scheme after FCI had cleared sales to it. Slamming the Centre, Siddaramaiah termed it an “anti-poor, political decision” and a conspiracy hatched by the BJP to deny rice for the Congress’ scheme.

The CM also said his government was making all efforts to get rice from other sources and producing states, aimed at supplying it to the needy on time, as promised.

As a first step, Siddaramaiah said that the state government is in touch with Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Punjab governments. “We’ll make sincere and serious efforts to roll out the scheme, and we are looking at other states for rice procurement. A clear picture will emerge in a day or two.”

“I spoke to CMs of states and requested them to sell rice to the state. Our food and civil supplies minister KH Muniyappa will meet the Telangana CM on Thursday regarding the issue,” he said.

“The Punjab government has conveyed that it doesn’t have sufficient stocks. The Chhattisgarh government assured us it would supply rice,” Siddaramaiah added.

According to Siddaramaiah, the state government would require 2.28 lakh metric tonnes of rice every month, costing Rs. 840 crore, to implement the scheme. “No matter how much the BJP tries to scuttle our welfare schemes, we will ensure its implementation,” Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah claimed that on June 9, a letter was written to the deputy general manager of FCI, seeking the requirement of 2.28 lakh MT to distribute 10kg of rice to Antyodaya and BPL card holders every month.

On June 12, FCI agreed to supply rice through an agreement at ₹3,400 per quintal, he said. “The minister of food and civil supplies had then written to FCI and banned the selling of wheat and rice to states under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) except in Northeastern states. After which FCI wrote to the state claiming they cannot provide rice,” Siddaramaiah alleged.

The letter, copies of which were shared by the CMO, says, “FCI may liquidate rice under Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) (OMSS-D) to Private Parties from central pool stock, as per requirement, in order to moderate prices… The sale of wheat and rice under OMSS(D) for State Governments is discontinued.”

The letter further states that the exceptions to this are the Northeast, hilly states and states facing ‘law and order situation or natural calamities’. For them, the FCI will continue to supply wheat and rice at the existing rate of ₹3,400 per quintal.

Information Technology and Bio-Technology (IT & BT) minister Priyank Kharge accused the Centre of conspiring against the state to stop the Congress from providing free rice to the poor.

While Congress leaders lashed out at the Union government, BJP leaders in Karnataka accused the state government of using ‘political tactics’ by blaming the Centre.

Former energy minister Sunil Kumar Karkala said, “It was your commitment to providing an additional 5 kg of rice. It is time to live up to your words and take action. Please refrain from engaging in such deplorable political tactics by blaming the Central government,” the BJP leader wrote on Twitter.

BJP national general secretary CT Ravi asked CM Siddaramaiah to put the market price of rice into the account of each person if the state cannot provide 10 kg rice to the people.

He further asked if the FCI had given a letter of commitment to provide additional rice for the scheme. “Siddaramaiah has already stated pointing fingers at the Centre for work that is not done by the state government...If you can’t give 10kg rice, put money in the account of all BPL cardholders and they will buy rice themselves,” Ravi said.