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Anna bhagya row: Unscientific food storehouses led to losses, says report
As the Karnataka government is making efforts to procure rice from the open market for its ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, a study by the state monitoring authority revealed that food has been kept in several unscientific storage facilities which is causing losses to the state
As the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government announced that they are making efforts to procure rice from the open market for its ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, the Karnataka monitoring and evaluation authority has revealed inadequacies in storage facilities which is resulting in losses to the state, a senior bureaucrat aware of the matter said.
“A study was conducted by the evaluation authority and the distribution of rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme from 2013 to 2019 was analysed. The report said that 39.3% of the food grains in the state are stored in unscientific and unclear locations leading to large stock losses over the years. These include the godowns and the public distribution system stores,” said the official, who didn’t want to be named.
The official stated that the government is going through the report and looking at the rectification of the problems. “The authority has recommended reviewing or revoking licences to these distribution agents to ensure no loss takes place. We are looking at the report closely and action will be taken against those storing unscientific manner and the process will be streamlined,” he added.
Similarly, it has been found in the report that in areas like Bengaluru, Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada the popularity of PDS is low, thus it can be redirected to other parts. “We will discuss the proposal with the government,” said the official.
The report gained importance as the Karnataka government on Wednesday, announced it has called tender from open market to procure rice. This comes after the Food Corporation of India (FCI) declined to sell rice to the state.
The government also announced that it would provide cash to below-poverty line (BPL) families instead of rice until the procurement of food grain is resolved. This move comes after the Congress party’s promise to offer 10 kg of rice per member in BPL households for free if elected to power in the southern state.
Due to difficulties in procuring rice, the government has opted to provide ₹34 per kg of rice. Each member of a BPL family will receive money for five kgs of rice, while the remaining five kg will be provided by the central government adding that the cash payment will continue until the state government procures rice from the open market.
After the FCI’s refusal to provide rice, the state government approached multiple rice-producing states, but Siddaramaiah explained that they were unable to meet the state’s rice quantity requirements. He said, “In our efforts to source rice, we have reached out to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Punjab. However, they are not ready or able to provide us with a continuous supply of rice or the quantity we need. We require 29,000 metric tonnes of rice per month.”
Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai expressed his discontent, saying: “In the market, rice is currently priced at ₹50-60. If they provide only ₹34, what can people do? If the market price is ₹60 and they offer ₹34, it is equivalent to receiving only 2.5 kg of rice. They are backtracking on their promises. Earlier, they reneged on providing free electricity, and now they are doing the same for rice. We will decide on our course of protest in the coming days.”
