Under the scheme, the Karnataka Government has promised to present 10 kg of meals grains/rice to each member of a Below Poverty Line (BPL) family and Antyodaya card holders each month.
| Photo Credit: Ok.R. Deepak
Amid a political slugfest over the discontinuation of the sale of rice and wheat from the Central pool to State governments, the Government on Thursday mentioned the choice was not “deliberate” and was solely aimed at controlling retail inflation in meals grains.
The Centre, in a notification despatched to the States on June 13, stopped the sale of rice and wheat from the Central pool below the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to State governments. The transfer is seemingly to hit some States, significantly Karnataka, which has promised free rice to its residents below the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme.
Under the scheme, the Karnataka Government has promised to present 10 kg of meals grains/rice to each member of a Below Poverty Line (BPL) family and Antyodaya card holders each month. With the Centre’s choice, it now stays to be seen if the State can be ready to implement the scheme from July 1 as determined.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and different leaders of the Congress get together have hit out at the Centre, accusing it of conspiring to “fail” the State authorities’s ballot assure by guaranteeing the State didn’t obtain the required quantity of rice to implement the scheme.
Moreover, within the upcoming Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, many populist schemes resembling these could also be introduced.
“Any State, when they announce any scheme, they do not consult us. They did not consult whether we can supply the food grains or not,” Food Corporation of India (FCI) Chairperson and Managing Director Ashok Kumar Meena mentioned, when requested concerning the Karnataka Chief Minister’s allegations.
“The Government of India doesn’t decide for States,” he mentioned, including that OMSS operations are carried out in a way that retail costs are managed.
Mr. Meena mentioned that from January 1, the Central authorities had determined to present free meals grains to 80 crore individuals below the brand new built-in National Food Security Scheme. Other than this, it had the mandate to take steps to be sure that the costs of important commodities remained in management for the remaining 60 crore individuals.
The FCI Chairperson additionally mentioned that present FCI shares of wheat and rice had been 308.84 lakh MT and 265.08 lakh MT, respectively. Both shares had been surplus.
A senior official within the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry mentioned that the choice to cease offering rice and grain to States below OMSS was neither deliberate not sudden. “The decision was not taken yesterday. An inter-Ministerial committee met on June 8. Then it [the decision] went to the Committee of Ministers, and then the notice was issued on June 13,” the official mentioned.
Questioned on the Karnataka Chief Minister’s cost that the FCI had agreed to supply 2.22 lakh million tonnes (MT) of grain to his State, the senior official mentioned that the FCI’s regional officers didn’t have any data on June 12 and thus had confirmed supply to the State authorities. It was solely on June 13, after the notification was acquired, that the sphere officers had been knowledgeable.
He mentioned that the FCI has commenced the registration course of for e-auction. The public sale will begin from June 28 for wheat and from July 5 for rice.
These had been devices to management costs, the official mentioned. Under the OMSS, the minimal amount allowed per purchaser has been mounted at 10 MT. The most amount allowed per purchaser is 100 MTs per e-auction for wheat and rice, to guarantee wider attain and participation of small and marginal patrons. Wheat and rice could be supplied from almost 500 depots of the FCI throughout the nation by the e-auction.
The Congress get together alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was taking out his frustration at the loss within the Karnataka Assembly polls on the individuals.
“By this move, the government is hurting the most marginalized sections of society,” Congress basic secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
“The question is — can the PM and the BJP be so blinded by their defeat that they deny food grain to the poor? Kannadigas demand answers,” Randeep Singh Surjewala, the get together basic secretary in-charge for Karnataka, mentioned.
“Let it be remembered that despite road blocks put up by the BJP, the Congress will implement ‘Anna Bhagya’ but Kannadigas will not pardon the State BJP leadership or Modi government for its enmity towards the SCs (Scheduled Castes), STs (Scheduled Tribes), OBCs (Other Backward Classes) and the poor,” Mr. Surjewala mentioned.
Mr. Siddaramaiah has additionally mentioned his authorities was making all efforts to procure rice from different sources and producing States, aimed at supplying it to the needy on time, as promised.
Sources within the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry mentioned that Karnataka can look at completely different choices to implement the scheme, together with procurements, changing rice with different grains like millets, and shopping for rice from the open market.
